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Jimmy Blewett
Sport: Auto Racing
Born: August 26, 1980
Town: Howell, New Jersey
James Robert Blewett was born August 26, 1980 in Howell. He was the youngest member of a racing family that included his father, John Blewett Jr. and brother John Blewett III, who was seven years older. Starting with go-karts at age 14, he moved into the Sportsman class in 1999 at age 18 and was racing in the Modified division at 19. Jimmy won his first race a week before turning 20. In 2001, he won his first season championship at his home track, Wall Stadium. However he lost the coveted Turkey Derby title that fall to his brother. Jimmy repeated as track champion at Wall in 2002.
In 2005, Jimmy began racing on NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour. He notched his first victory in 2006 at Martinsville and finished 15th in the driver standings. Jimmy and John often found themselves running neck-and-neck, and they did their share of bumping and banging.
At a 2007 race at Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut, Jimmy got loose on a restart, bounced off the wall and ended up on top of his brother’s car. In a freak occurrence, the rear bumper of Jimmy’s car went through the driver’s side window and killed John.
Jimmy continued to find success driving Modifieds in the years that followed. He won the Turkey Derby at Wall again each year from 2008 to 2011. Between 2006 and 2009, he won a total of five NASCAR events. Jimmy was track champion at New Smyrna in 2008 and 2009. He also won one NASCAR pole in 2012 and 2013, finishing #8 in the Whelen Modified standings in 2012.
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