“The good Lord doesn’t tell you what His plan is, so all you can do is get up the next morning and see what happens next.” Richard Petty.

On Getting Through a Long Week

By Deane Mercier

August 22, Norwalk, CT--- My phone rang at 6:45 last Friday morning. It was Charlie Mitchell calling to tell me of the death of John Blewett III during the Whelen Modified Tour New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Thompson International Speedway.

A few minutes later I was on-line looking for something from NASCAR on the event and Blewett’s death. There was nothing.

I then went to the Hartford Courant to see what Shawn Courchesne had on the race. His story gave me what I needed to know and then some. “Right Now, I Hate Being an Auto Racing Reporter” sent chills up and down my spine. In his brevity Courchesne spoke volumes. He spoke for himself. He spoke for all of us who cover racing.

I called Mike Fields to pass along the sad news to him. Mike had already heard what happened.

Through the rest of the morning I made some phone calls to various sources to get more information. I was told by four different people that NASCAR wanted to restart the race but that a number of drivers said they wouldn’t go back on the track. As far as the drivers were concerned the race was over.

Charlie Mitchell called me back and asked me to get a clarification from Ben Dodge, Special Advisor to Don Hoenig at Thompson on who made the call to continue the race. Was it NASCAR or Thompson?

Checked my e-mail and still nothing official from NASCAR.

By early afternoon I was on my way to Stafford Motor Speedway for the night’s races. I made a few mental notes on who I wanted to talk to and what questions needed to be asked.

Linda Corliss was at the reception desk when I walked into the SMS office. Linda is the scoreboard operator at the track. She is also a part-time official for the Whelen Modified Tour.

It had been a long, sad night for her. We hugged.

Scott Running, Senior Director, Media and Information for Stafford was at Thompson the night before. He told me what he saw, what he felt. He told me what is was like in the press box, what it was like for the fans in the grandstands. What he told me helped but it didn’t make it any easier.

A few minutes later I was walking through the paddock area looking for Ted Christopher when I met up with Ronnie Silk. Silk drives on the tour and also runs and SK at Stafford.

I asked him how he was doing. “I’m ok, well I’m not ok if you know what I mean, but I’m ok,” he answered. “It still hasn’t sunk in. John was a good guy, a nice guy and a good driver. It’s like a bad dream.”

Silk told me that is was five-time champion Tony Hirschman who told other drivers that he did not want to continue the race.

Woody Pitkat, who drives SK’s at both Stafford and Thompson and also on the WMT, was running fourth, behind Jimmy Blewett when the wreck happened. “I spent 3 days with John out in Vegas last year and he was a lot of fun to be around. I know Jimmy a little bit better then John. It’s sad. They were beating and banging on each other the way brothers do. Like the Christopher brothers always did,” said Pitkat. Pitkat also told me that Hirschman was against continuing the race. While we were talking I noticed that Pitkat was wearing a football jersey with Blewett’s name and number on the back.

I never did see Christopher and it was time to head back up to the press box. Matt Buckler was there. Matt covers racing for the Manchester Journal Enquirer. He also is a track announcer at TIS, SMS and Waterford Speedbowl. “Deane, you should have been there,” Matt said. “You could almost see the joy on their faces as they were racing side by side. They were having so much fun and then….”

Then Ben Dodge came in and confirmed for me what I had already been told by SMS COO/GM Mark Arute and SMS Senior Manager/Safety Jimmy Milo. Once the green flag waves on a NASCAR touring event, the track, essentially, belongs to NASCAR. NASCAR determines if a race will continue or not.

Ben has been around racing for a long time. He was born into it. Hell, he was almost born at a track. He has seen more tragedy at race tracks than any one man should have to see. I don’t know if our talk helped Ben but I know it helped me.

Pitkat’s WMT crew chief Jeff Williams came into the press box. Williams also was crew chief for John in the SK’s divisions at TIS and SMS. He was with Jimmy at the hospital when doctors told Jimmy that his brother had died.

I had been told by a number of people that John had suffered a serious head injury and that there was impact damage to his helmet. “I was there with Jimmy when the doctors told Jimmy that John had died. They told Jimmy that John had suffered a skull fracture,” Williams said.

During the third or fourth heat race the rains hit Stafford and racing was canceled for the night. None of us wanted to be there anyway.

Before leaving the track I was able to view a tape of the crash that took Blewett’s life. In all honesty I’ve seen more devastating wrecks. Both cars could have been driven off the track. As Ben Dodge told me earlier it was “just a freak accident.”

Saturday morning there was still no official word from NASCAR on whether the race would be continued to its finish at another date or if it had been declared an official race. Not one word from NASCAR.

Touched base with Charlie Mitchell and passed along what I had picked up Friday night at Stafford. Charlie told me that he had confirmed that Hirschman told a number of drivers that he didn’t want to go back on the track and Donny Lia, the current WMT point’s leader agreed with Hirschman and the drivers took their cars off the track and the fans stood and cheered their decision.

Charlie also told me that he placed a call to Jim Hunter, NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications. Later that afternoon Charlie called back and told me that he had just spoken to Hunter. In his Sunday column in the Hour, Charlie reported that Hunter told him “that an announcement from the sanctioning body concerning the decision on whether the race would be continued or declared official could be made soon.”

Hunter was good to his word. Late Saturday afternoon NASCAR announced that the race would not be continued, as it was past the halfway point of the race when the crash happened, but the official finish was not announced.

Sunday morning I again spoke to Mike Fields to fill him in on what I had learned. Mike told me that he and his wife drove down to Wall Township Speedway for the memorial service to honor John. Mike told me he had a long talk with Jimmy. Details of that conversation can be seen on Mike’s blog on this website. Like the earlier mentioned Courchesne blog, it is must reading.

Monday NASCAR made it official. Todd Szegedy was declared the winner.

Deane Mercier worked in radio for 35 years as a DJ and talk show host. He is currently the Host Broadcaster for Stafford Motor Speedway and is a Motorsports correspondent for the Hour Newspaper (CT).  Deane may be contacted at DeaneMercier@aol.com.

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