Racing forward: 15 years after family tragedy, Jimmy Blewett hasn’t slowed

Father and son walk through patchy shadows on a steamy August evening at North Wilkesboro Speedway, the father’s arm around his son’s shoulders.

Fourteen-year-old James Blewett should not be walking through the infield with his father, Jimmy, at this time. He should be on the track. Instead, James is out of the race after he couldn’t avoid a spinning car and rammed into it. He is uninjured. The other driver limps the rest of the night.

James’ crash came in just his second modified event. The low-slung car with fat wheels, a mixture of daring and speed, has been the chariot of choice for many of the top drivers in the Northeast for decades. The red, white and blue No. 76 that James drives is the type of car his grandfather raced, his uncle raced and his dad races.

The night before, James finished fifth in a 22-car field. Now he has his first crash. The incident is viewed as a right of passage for the young driver. It’s one thing for James to see a competitor wreck and not be hurt; it’s another to experience the impact and walk away himself.

But the Blewett family knows how devastating an accident can be. Fifteen years ago, Jimmy Blewett and his older brother John led the field at Connecticut’s Thompson Speedway. They crashed. John died. 

“I found myself trying to make sense of it,” Jimmy said of his brother’s death, “and you can’t.’’ 

Jimmy said he was done racing. Less than three weeks later, he was back on track. This is what the Blewetts of Howell, New Jersey, do. They race. Jimmy continues to chase checkered flags — and is back at Thompson Speedway this week — while his son represents the next generation in the family’s racing lineage. 

Their rivalry was built on love, respect and the desire to top one another. Sure,