image from NASCAR.com
Jon Blewett III was killed Thursday evening because of an accident at the Thompson International Speedway. Blewett was 33, a veteran Racecar driver in the NASCAR Whelan Modified Series.
An accident on lap 107 of a scheduled 150 lap feature race, occured when Blewett went into Turn 1 fast and slid up the track. His brother Jimmy was running behind him, slid underneath him and touched wheels. Both cars then hit the wall. It took about 30 minutes to get Blewett out of his car, which was underneath his brother’s car.
Jon Blewett III was pronounced about 11:00pm at a local hospital.
Thompson Speedway is a small 5/8 mile high banked, 26 degree speedway in the northeast corner of Connecticut, near the Massachusetts border. The Whalen Modified is a open wheeled car weighing 2610 pounds, according to NASCAR.com. The 107 inch wheelbase car runs on Hoosier tires. It has a small block 350 to 360 cubic inch engine.
You can visit this tracks website at www.thompsonspeedway.com and view the track owners statement of this accident.
The last death at Thompson Speedway notably occured on August 19, 2004, when Tom Baldwin died. He was the father of Nextel Cup crewchief Tommy Baldwin Jr.
Jon Blewett III was 28th in points in the Whalen Modified Series points. He had 1 top 5 and 2 top 10’s in 6 races. He had 10 career wins in the series he started competing in 1995. Jon was the 2003 NHIS Lincoln Electric/ Merrium Graves Modified Track Champion, the 1996 Dodge Weekly Series Northeast Regional Champion and other track championships.
