Tony Carlino quit smoking today. The Lake Placid bobsled track director made a bet with local boy John Napier that if Napier won a bobsled race, Carlino would quit his long-time habit.

In the two-man World Cup bobsled race at Lake Placid today, Napier, 22, crossed the line over a quarter-second ahead of teammate Steve Holcomb to take his first World Cup win. His first podium even. His best World Cup finish prior to today was fifth in the four-man event last February in Park City.

Carlino, who had been pacing — and smoking — on the road next to the finish, ducked behind the finish house and cried.

“[John] is a testament to what hard work and dedication to the sport can do,” said Carlino after he pulled himself together.

Carlino has known John Napier since before he was born. John’s parents were involved in bobsledding, and his mom, Betsy, brought baby John to the track not long after he was born.

“He was two weeks old,” she said. “I had him in a baby sack under my coat, and I walked up and down the track.”

His dad, William, was on the national bobsled team, competed in the 1980 Olympic Trials, and later become president of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation. Although it’s against track rules, William made sure John had his first taste of bobsledding before he could walk.

“We’re not supposed to tell you that he did,” admitted Carlino, “but his dad brought him down [when he was a baby].”

John began driving peewee bobsleds when he was 8.

William died in June 2005 but did see his son compete in his World Cup debut — in February 2005 on the Lake Placid track.

At the World Cup race today, John — wearing red, white, and blue socks — led after the first run and was having trouble controlling his nerves. Between runs, he went up to the old 1980 Olympic start house.

“I was thinking of how ironic it was that 30 years ago, [my dad] was in there warming up,” he said.

Without his dad to call on though, he looked to his more experienced teammates for advice.

“I leaned on great guys like Steve Holcomb, who’s been there before and knows what it feels like,” he said. “I asked him what the heck to you do because I’ve never been in this position.”

“He said just go hang out, chill out, and act like it’s a practice run.”

“I just told him to relax, go find somewhere and relax and try not to think about it too much,” said Holcomb, who now leads the World Cup standings, “because the more you think about it, the more pressure you put on yourself, and the harder it gets.”

John and his brakeman, Chuck Berkeley, had a good start and maintained their lead down a track that John has run more times than he can count. The win put John in fourth overall in World Cup rankings.

After John crossed the line and climbed out of his sled, Carlino handed him his pack of cigarettes, and John stomped on them.

“We’ve had this bet going for about two years,” said John. “Last year, I got a fifth place and couldn’t quite get in the medals. For some reason, a little voice in my head told me today that it was going to be today that [Tony] was quitting smoking. And it sure was!”

Will going cold turkey be tough on the track manager?

“I’ll be OK,” Carlino said. “Actually, it’s a good thing because I’ll be saving about $50 a week.”