Driver John Blewett killed in Thompson Speedway crash involving brother, other cars

Driver John Blewett killed in Thompson Speedway crash involving brother, other cars

By STEPHEN SINGER, Associated Press Writer
August 17, 2007

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A 33-year-old race car driver died in a crash involving his brother and several cars at the Thompson Motor Speedway.

John Blewett III of Howell, N.J., died Thursday night after he and Jimmy Blewett hit a wall in the 107th lap of the 150-lap NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event in Thompson.

John Blewett's car ended up on top of his brother's car, said Woody Pitkat, who was behind the crash.

"Jimmy got out of his car. He was yelling and screaming. He was just a wreck," Pitkat said in a telephone interview Friday. "He was yelling at people to get (John) out of the car."

John Blewett, who suffered head and neck injuries, was extricated from the car and taken to Hubbard Regional Hospital in Webster, Mass., where he was pronounced dead, state police said.

It's being investigated as an untimely death, a state police spokesman said.

A NASCAR spokesman said the Blewett brothers were veteran drivers. Pitkat estimated the speed of the cars at more than 100 mph at the time of the crash.

"I was laying back because they were racing pretty hard," said Pitkat, whose car was hit from the rear.

Also at Thompson speedway, a professional all-terrain vehicle driver from Easthampton, Mass., was killed during practice laps in May 2006.

Two years earlier, race car driver Tommy Baldwin of Moriches, N.Y., was killed in a crash in a Featherlite modified race.