NASCAR Deems Tragic Thompson Event Complete; Todd Szegedy Declared Winner

The event that claimed the life of Whelen Modified Tour driver John Blewett III was declared officially completed by NASCAR officials on Monday.

NASCAR declared Todd Szegedy of Ridgefield the winner of the New England Dodge Dealers 150 Thursday at Thompson International Speedway. The race will be recorded as being stopped with 107 of a scheduled 150 laps completed.

Blewett, 33 of Howell, N.J, was killed in an accident while racing for the lead with his brother Jimmy, 26, also of Howell, just after a restart on lap 107.

Woody Pitkat of Stafford, running in fourth at the time of the restart, was also involved in the accident.

Szegedy was running third at the time of the restart. It was the first victory of the season for Szegedy. Tony Hirschman of Northampton, Pa. was second and Ron Yuhas of Groton third.

Jimmy Blewett was scored as finishing 15th, John Blewett 16th and Pitkat 17th, with each scored as a lap down from the leaders.

The Whelen Modified Tour returns to competition Saturday at Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Park.

Shawn Courchesne, 2:30 p.m.

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Right Now, I Hate Being An Auto Racing Reporter

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Comments

[William Shaw]

John Blewett III was one of my favorite modified drivers when he was driving the beautiful yellow # 77 owned by Curt Chase.I did not know he was killed until today Saturday when I was watching Nextel Cup Qualifying from Michigan.I am way behind on the taped races I have to watch.They were interveiwing his good freind Martin Truex Jr.I was saying to myself what was Martin talking about,then he mentioned John was killed at Thompson.I am deeply saddened and still in shock.First it was Corky Cookman,Tom Baldwin Sr. and now John.I thought the modifieds were as safe as they could be.The last time I saw John race was at the 2006 Turkey Derby at Wall Township.I think he was driving his own #66.My sympathies go out to the Blewett family.Another one of my modified heros is gone.I still can not believe it. William Shaw