California Speedway today announced the plans to launch a California Speedway 500 pedometer program in association with the County of San Bernardino and the Fitness Challenge Foundation in order to help create healthier lifestyles for youth and families in Southern California.

Based on data the Fitness Challenge Foundation has collected, 38-percent of California children ages nine to 11 are overweight or are at a risk of becoming overweight. Close to 74% of youth are unfit and only 40-percent of teens meet minimum daily requirements for physical fitness. The 2003 California Health Interview Survey reported that nearly 55-percent of adult Californians are overweight.

The California Speedway 500 pedometer program is an initiative that challenges kids and adults alike to walk a total of 500,000 steps from now until Feb. 15, 2007. The steps will be counted with the use of a custom-made California Speedway pedometer that can be purchased at the Speedway’s display booth located in the Opportunity, California FanZone, near Gate 12. Dollars raised are invested in the implementation of the program.

To help kick-off the event, drivers Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Bill Lester will join track president, Gillian Zucker, NBC’s Dave Burns, and San Bernardino reporter, Lewis Brewster in tracking their steps.

The California Speedway 500 will kick off October 2 in conjunction with National Walk to School Month. The program is intended to encourage local participants to make physical activity a part of their daily lifestyle, and those participants that achieve the goal by the Feb. 15 deadline will be eligible to receive prizes. The top participating school will receive a School Garden Kit courtesy of the Western Growers.

[California Speedway]