John Richard Blewett III (October 25, 1973 – August 16, 2007) was a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver.[1]
John Blewett III | |||||||
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Nationality | American | ||||||
Born | Howell Township, New Jersey | October 25, 1973||||||
Died | August 16, 2007 Thompson, Connecticut | (aged 33)||||||
Related to | Jimmy Blewett (brother) | ||||||
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour | |||||||
Years active | 1995–2007 | ||||||
Teams | Dick Barney (1995–1996, 1998) Mario Fiore (1999) Curt Chase (2000–2004) Sheba Racing (2004) John Blewett Inc. (1997-1998, 2005–2007) | ||||||
Starts | 164 | ||||||
Wins | 10 | ||||||
Poles | 4 | ||||||
Best finish | 3rd in 2001 and 2003 | ||||||
Awards | |||||||
1992 | Rookie of the Year | ||||||
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
4 races run over 3 years | |||||||
Best finish | 74th (1998) | ||||||
First race | 1996 Stevens Beil/Genuine Parts 200 (Flemington) | ||||||
Last race | 1998 Virginia Is For Lovers 200 (Richmond) | ||||||
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Career
editBlewett started racing go karts at the age of 10. In 1996, at age 22, he won the coveted NASCAR's Northeast Regional Championship, falling only a few points shy of the National Title. During his career he recorded 97 wins between 1993 and 2007, including track championships at Flemington Speedway, Wall Township Speedway, New Egypt, as well as New Hampshire. In 2006, he was honored during the motorsports show in Atlantic City as the northeast's Winningest Pavement Driver, for that year, as tallied by Area Auto Racing News.
Death and memorial
editOn August 16, 2007, while competing in a Whelen Modified race at Thompson Speedway, Blewett lost his life in a crash where he spun and was hit in the driver's door by his brother Jimmy's car.[2] On August 18, 2007 Wall Township Speedway held a Special Memorial for John. Fans, family, and friends attended the Speedway to pay their final respects. On the final lap of the scheduled 40 lap modified event, 1990 NASCAR Whelen Modified Titlist Jamie Tomaino piloted the famed No. 76 for a solo lap in John's honor. Three months later, at the season ending Turkey Derby, the Speedway decided to reserve the No. 76 exclusively for use by the Blewett family, effectively retiring the number except that any Blewett family owned team or driver can use it, meaning any car owned by the Blewett family, or driven by brother Jimmy or his son John IV, who started racing in 2017.[3]
The North-South Shootout, a race meet now featuring "Tour-type" Modified (similar to NASCAR Modified Tour cars, but the races are unsanctioned), SK Modified (Jack Arute owns the trademark, a Stafford Motor Speedway formula), Late Model, Super Late Model, and four-cylinder races held at various North Carolina short tracks but it is home to Caraway Speedway in Sophia,Nc, was renamed the John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout starting with the 2007 edition.
Previous rides
edit- John Blewett, Inc. No. 5 – 1992–1993 (Wall Stadium)
- John Blewett Inc. No. 76 – 1993–1994 (Flemington Speedway)
- Lou Vasquez No. 9/No. 5 1994–1996 (New Egypt Speedway Paved)
- Dick Barney No. 14 – 1995–1996, 1998–1999 (Flemington Speedway)
- John Blewett, Inc. No. 05 – 1997 (Flemington Speedway)
- Mario Fiore No. 44 – 1999 (Nascar Whelen Modified Tour)
- Curt Chase No. 77 – 2000–2004 (Nascar Whelen Modified Tour)
- Timmy Shinn No. 66 – 2002–2004 (Wall Stadium)
- John Blewett, Inc No. 76 2005–2007 (Wall Stadium)
- Sheba Racing No. 8 2004 (Nascar Whelen Modified Tour)
- John Blewett Inc. No. 66 2005–2007 (Nascar Whelen Modified Tour)
Accomplishments
edit- Rookie of the Year (1992)
- Thanksgiving Classic (1993)
- Race of Champions (1995)
- NASCAR Northeast Regional (1996)
- Challenge of Champions (1996, 1997)
- North-South Shootout (2003, 2005)
- After his death, the race was named in his memory, the John Blewett III Memorial North-South Shootout.
- Turkey Derby (2000, 2001, 2004, 2005)
- Tour-Type Modified Division
- Garden State Classic (2003, 2004, 2006)
Track titles
edit- Flemington Speedway (1996, 1997)
- New Hampshire International Speedway (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006)
- New Egypt Speedway (1996)
- Wall Township Speedway (2006)
Motorsports career results
editNASCAR
edit(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Craftsman Truck Series
editNASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | NCTC | Pts | Ref | |||||||||||
1996 | John Blewett Inc. | 0 | Ford | HOM | PHO | POR | EVG | TUS | CNS | HPT | BRI | NZH | MLW | LVL | I70 | IRP | FLM 22 |
GLN | NSV | RCH | NHA | MAR | NWS | SON | MMR | PHO | LVS | 109th | 97 | [4] | ||||||||||||||
1997 | 05 | Chevy | WDW | TUS | HOM | PHO | POR | EVG | I70 | NHA | TEX | BRI | NZH | MLW | LVL | CNS | HPT | IRP | FLM 30 |
NSV | GLN | RCH DNQ |
MAR 33 |
SON | MMR | CAL | PHO | LVS | 87th | 137 | [5] | |||||||||||||
1998 | WDW | HOM | PHO | POR | EVG | I70 | GLN | TEX | BRI | MLW | NZH | CAL | PPR | IRP | NHA | FLM DNQ |
NSV | HPT | LVL | 74th | 85 | [6] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Greenfield Racing | 09 | Dodge | RCH 26 |
MEM | GTY | MAR | SON | MMR | PHO | LVS |
Whelen Modified Tour
editReferences
edit- ^ "LongIslandJam.com: Long Island > NASCAR WMT Series -- Powered by RacerHub". Archived from the original on 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- ^ "Race driver, 33, killed; Death on Thompson track. - Free Online Library".
- ^ "Wall Township Speedway Memorial Saturday for John Blewett III - Shawn Courchesne | Auto Racing". Archived from the original on 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 1998 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 1995 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 1996 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 1997 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 1998 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 1999 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 2000 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 2001 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 2002 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 2003 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 2004 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 2005 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 2006 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
- ^ "John Blewett III – 2007 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
External links
edit- John Blewett III driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- Official MySpace
- Thompson Speedway Race Results
- Blewett III Profile at RaceHub