John Richard Blewett III (October 25, 1973 – August 16, 2007) was a

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) (previously the NASCAR Winston Modified Tour and NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series from 1985 until 2005) is a modified stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR in the Modified Division. The Mod ...

driver.

Career

Blewett 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

On August 16, 2007, while competing in a Whelen Modified race at

Thompson Speedway Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park (TSMP), formerly Thompson Speedway and Thompson International Speedway, is a motorsports park in Thompson, Connecticut, featuring a asphalt oval racetrack and a road racing course. Once known as the "Indianapo ...

, Blewett lost his life in a crash where he spun and was hit in the driver's door by his brother Jimmy's car. On August 18, 2007

Wall Township Speedway Wall Stadium (also known briefly as Wall Township Speedway) is a 1/4-mile (0.25 miles inside measurement and 0.29 miles outside by the guardrail), high banked (30° in corners) paved oval track in Wall Township, New Jersey, United States. The track ...

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. 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 Jack Arute III ( ; born September 28, 1950) is an American former sportscaster for the NFL and college sports for Sirius XM Radio. He used to be an auto racing pit reporter and college football sideline reporter for ESPN and ABC, and covered the I ...

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

*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

*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

Flemington Speedway Flemington Speedway was a motor racing circuit in Flemington, New Jersey which operated from 1915 to 2002. The track was once known for being the fastest 5/8 dirt track in the United States. Early history Flemington Speedway was created as a ...

(1996, 1997) *

New Hampshire International Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mil ...

(2000, 2002, 2003, 2006) *

New Egypt Speedway New Egypt Speedway is a 7/16 mile clay race track in New Egypt, New Jersey. The track hosted the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on a quarter mile asphalt track in the 1980s. History The track was built in 1946 as a 1/4 mile dirt track, before being ...

(1996) *

(2006)

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series

Featherlite Modified Series

References

External links

*
Official MySpace

Blewett III Profile at RaceHub
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blewett, John III 1973 births 2007 deaths NASCAR drivers People from Howell Township, New Jersey Racing drivers from New Jersey Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in Connecticut Sportspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey