John Blewett III | |||||||||||||||||||
Nationality: | American | ||||||||||||||||||
Birth Date: | 25 October 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||
Birth Place: | Howell Township, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||||||
Death Place: | Thompson, Connecticut | ||||||||||||||||||
Related To: | Jimmy Blewett (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||
Last Series: | 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 | ||||||||||||||||||
Year: | 2001 and 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||
Awards: | Rookie of the Year | ||||||||||||||||||
Award Years: | 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||
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John Richard Blewett III (October 25, 1973 – August 16, 2007) was a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver.[1]
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.
On 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.
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Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)NASCAR 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 | 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 |