Jimmy Blewett (Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR
Multiple sources have confirmed to RaceDayCT that Jimmy Blewett will drive on the Whelen Modified Tour in 2016 for car owner Bob Garbarino.
Reached Wednesday afternoon Garbarino said he could not comment on who will drive his car this year.
Blewett is expected to be formally announced as the driver of the car possibly as early as Wednesday evening.
Blewett’s last Whelen Modified Tour start came in the Budweiser King of Beers 150 on Aug. 15, 2013 at Thompson Speedway. He finished seventh in that event. He ran full-time in 2012, finishing eighth in the season standings before turning his focus to dirt racing. He sold all his dirt racing equipment after the 2015 season in hope of returning to Modified racing.
Blewett, of Howell, N.J., has 105 career Whelen Modified Tour starts dating back to 2001, with five career victories and 21 top-fives. His last series win came on Aug. 8, 2008 at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Attempts to reach Jimmy Blewett Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Todd Szegedy drove for Garbarino in 2015 and parted ways with the team following last season. The Whelen Modified Tour kicks off its 2016 on April 10 with the running of the Icebreaker 150 at Thompson Speedway.
I wonder who reported that a month ago…hmm RaceChaser?
Bob should concentrate on building back to a winning team, versus trying to the center of attention each year with his last minute driver selection process. Going to take more than this to catch the 2 team.
Geoffrey,
All I can say about that is whatever was reported by RaceChaser whenever it was reported was vehemently denied by Bob Garbarino and Jimmy Blewett and was stated to be untrue at that point in time. All indications are that nothing was close to being done with this deal when that story was published. And that’s not to mention the RaceChaser story directly quoted Jimmy Blewett and made reference to the writer speaking with Blewett when in fact the writer never actually spoke with Blewett. When you’re making up information about what the subjects involved supposedly said to you, and you never actually even spoke with those people, then there’s not much stock behind what was reported.
Its called modified racing. Everyone’s full of crap !!
Shawn:I totally agree of what your saying. Race Chaser should keep quiet, Until Robert Garbarino anounces it himself who will be driving the car. Spoken from a long time follower of the #4 Mystic Missile Racing team.
Have a good day 🙂 Sincerely yours, Paul A Dziewit
Geoffrey,
And also, as far as putting stock in that report months ago, you might recall that in that story, the original story published, the author claimed to have spoken with Jimmy Blewett. After Jimmy Blewett publicly said he never spoke to the author of the story and that it was made up, the website RaceChaserOnline went back and edited their own story to remove any reference they had previously published concerning supposedly speaking to Jimmy Blewett. So if you have to go back and edit stories to remove the lies you had published about the subjects involved with the story, it’s not saying much for what you’re doing.
According to my sources, which are multiple, nobody would drive the car because they couldn’t find anyone to drive the hauler. Nobody wanted to drive the hauler, because Garbarino is too cheap to put the crew guys up in hotel rooms for races far away and also doesn’t pay for entry or NASCAR licenses for the crew. So, for example, the hauler heads to Bristol, unloads, they race, load up, and leave the same day. Just what I’m hearing tho.
Whatever the shuck and jive was.Racechaser was correct.
Kevin,
Absolutely, no denying they went on a hunch and hope and reported something, with no basis or fact behind it at that point and without speaking to any of the principles involved, and it just so happened to happen. I could report today that Kevin Harvick is leaving Stewart-Haas Racing after this year and if he did, well darned if I wasn’t the first one to “report” it was going to happen. Point I’m trying to make is when it was “reported” the deal was nowhere near done. And again, it doesn’t say much at all for the validity of your reporting when the originally published story included lies about speaking to the subjects involved and the outlet in question later had to edit out those lies from their story because the subjects involved publicly called out the author for publishing lies about them.
Cool. Now we can go racing.
Doug DiPisa said, “Its called modified racing. Everyone’s full of crap !!”
That is the absolute BEST!!!!!
HEY< Harry K. when you bring as much time , money & effort ( not to mention all the class and good will ) to the WMT as Bob has brought over the past 30 years MAYBE you'll have the right to tell him how to run his race team!
Couldn’t be more right Donnie!
To Aubrey James, I disagree
Whenever I stayed at the Red Roof Inn in Johnson City, Tn. after the Bristol race, the 4 hauler was in the parking lot across the street on Thur AM’s & we usually crossed paths heading up 81.
I concur with old observer.
Donnie – let’s just see who is in victory lane this year. Harry K.
The tour is looking better and better… I can’t wait for the season to start!
Race chaser quoted someone they never spoke with, so no, the story was not correct. Many people knew Showtime was being considered for the ride, but nobody made up quotes and then published a story about it. Also, Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy are not real.
On their own dime. Read what I wrote before you comment.
I’ll just concur with the former hauler driver and 3 crew members.
Yeah, now the tour should have at least 23 cars for most of the races, 2 or 3 of which actually have a chance of winning.
If the NASCAR Whelen Modified tour was so strong, there wouldn’t be 5 other modified tours in the Northeast looking to steal their thunder.
Although this rumor came true, the following is one of the everlasting and endearing statements of all-time:
“Its called modified racing. Everyone’s full of crap !!” – Doug DiPisa
Simply the best.
darealgoodfella: at least Doug DiPias uses his real name he doesn’t hide behind the screen like you !
The Real Aubrey James said: “According to my sources, which are multiple, nobody would drive the car because they couldn’t find anyone to drive the hauler. ”
Really???!!?!?! Are you really saying that race drivers turned down the opportunity to drive the Mystic Missile over the need for a hauler driver?
With that, you are saying that a race car driver won’t drive the race car because there is a need for a hauler driver? I have to call bullcrap on that one. I doubt a race car driver would turn down a ride over a hauler driver.
So lets see how many races the 4 misses this season because nobody would drive the hauler. Aubrey, you keep track of that statistic.
The Real Aubrey James said: “According to my sources, which are multiple, nobody would drive the car because they couldn’t find anyone to drive the hauler. ”
The Real Good Fella said: Really???!!?!?! Are you really saying that race drivers turned down the opportunity to drive the Mystic Missile over the need for a hauler driver?
The Real Aubrey James is absolutely correct about the v4 hauler driver and the race driver has nothing to do with how the car gets to and from the track . His jobs is to drive the car and win races.