(Press release from Stafford Speedway)
Showtime is back. Petty Cash Motorsports has announced Jimmy Blewett as their full-time driver for the 2023 SK Modified® season. Blewett will assume driving responsibilities of the 85 SK Modified®, driven by Bryan Narducci for the 2023 season.
“It was a bit of a shocker to be honest,” said Blewett. “I don’t know what the situation was with Bryan but they gave me a call at the end of last week asking if I would be interested in driving the car and I told them I was 100% interested. Those guys have top notch equipment, the car is fast, and Tick Mike, Tyler, and everyone there spares no expense on what they need to get the job done. I love coming to Stafford and I feel like Stafford is one of my better tracks. It’s going to be a three-and-a-half or four hour ride every Friday, but it’s all going to be worth it. The racing is good, the fans are good, and the competition level is really stiff with some young, up and coming drivers, so I’m looking forward to it and I think we can have a really good season.”
“Everyone our side is really beyond ecstatic that Jimmy will be driving the #85 car for us this season,” said Tyler Meyhoefer, GM of Petty Cash Motorsports. “We were sitting here without a driver and there were definitely some options that we had but getting Jimmy to drive the car, I don’t know if I have the words for it yet, it’s all still a little surreal. Jimmy is an amazing guy, the Blewett family is a great family, and it’s mind blowing knowing that he’s going to be driving our car. Thanks to Jimmy and John Blewett, Inc. for making this deal possible. Obviously we want to dominate each week and everyone’s end goal, including ours, is to win the championship, but if we can be fast every week and contend for wins, I think that would be a win for us all in itself.”
Last season saw Blewett make a single SK Modified® start, driving a Keith Rocco prepared car in the NAPA Spring Sizzler®. Blewett ended up with a 17th place finish after spinning from third place coming to the white flag but this experience left Blewett open to the possibility of returning full-time to the SK Modified® division. With that possibility now made into a reality by joining the Petty Cash Motorsports group, Blewett is looking to be a championship contender.
“I stay in touch with Keith [Rocco] and he’s always been a good friend of mine, and he offered me a ride in the Sizzler® last season and that really gave me the itch to come back,” said Blewett. “The goal is to be consistent and try to get these guys a championship. I know there’s a lot of other teams that have the same thing in mind but we have a great team, a great car, a great group of guys, and a great group of sponsors backing us so it’ll be up to us a team to do our job and be there at the end of the season. Our goal is to win the championship but we also want to win races and I’m looking forward to getting to the track and seeing what we have.”
Come opening weekend, Blewett will also be looking to add his name to the list of NAPA Spring Sizzler® winners. Fresh off a fifth place finish in last year’s NAPA Spring Sizzler®, Blewett will return for this year’s 51st annual running of “The Greatest Race in the History of Spring” looking to add his name to the winner’s list with a brand new #02 Primary Services Group / John Blewett, Inc. modified.
“I feel good about the Sizzler®,” said Blewett. “My car owner Ryan Fisher and I teamed up to build a brand new car for this year and we still have the car we ran last year. We had been kicking around the idea of putting something together that would be a little better than what we brought last year and we know the competition level will be stiff so we figured let’s do whatever we can to try to get our name on the list of Sizzler winners. We’ve been working our tails off in the shop night in and night out and hopefully the car will run as good as it looks. Big thanks to Petty Cash Motorsports, NAPROCO Products, John Blewett, Inc. and everyone who has put a helping hand into this season.”
Blewett’s fifth place finish in last year’s Sizzler® matched his career best effort and Blewett would like nothing more than to take the Sizzler® trophy back home to New Jersey.
“The Sizzler® is a historical race and the names on the Sizzler® winner’s list are the best in the business,” said Blewett. “Just to be on that list would mean a lot to me. I’m at a point in my career where I don’t have anything more to prove and we have a lot of great cars and teams showing up for the Sizzler, which is another reason why you want to race at Stafford, everyone is going to be there. If we can show up and beat all those drivers, that will speak for itself and hopefully we can put ourselves in contention. Last year was our first time working together as a team and overall I think we did pretty well. Getting a top-5 was a good start for us and now we’re looking to build off that baseline.”
The 51st Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® kicks off on Saturday, April 29, and will consist of two 40-lap NAPA Duel qualifying races for the Open Modified division. The 40-lap races will each pay $3,500 to win and will set the field for Sunday’s NAPA Spring Sizzler®. The American Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Models will also make their return to Stafford Speedway on April 29th with a 75-lap feature with over 40 cars expected for the race. Limited Late Model, Street Stock, and Vintage All-Star divisions will complete Saturday’s racing program.
Order 51st NAPA Spring Sizzler® Tickets
51st Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® Entry List
Sunday, April 30th will play host to the $20,000 to win 51st NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler®. Filling out Sunday’s racing card will be qualifying and feature racing for the SK Modified®, SK Light Modified, and Late Model divisions along with last chance qualifiers for the Spring Sizzler®.
For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.
This is big news for the track, petty cash, tick mike, Showtime and everyone involved in my opinion. STAFFORD on Flo with the national attention and over 20 thousand eye balls watching every week is a big deal.
Looking forward to 2023
I hope I’m wrong but my suspicion is there will be a lot more wrecked sk’s this year with Showtime running every week
Showtime running full time in an SK, awesome news. Just don’t quite understand the logistics, no sponsor money for Bryan, but now all seems well in the sponsor department.
Is the new car for the Sizzler the one TBR prepped for the NWMT opener at New Smyrna?
RaceDayCt 1/12/23
“Blewett, who has scaled back a tick from full-time Modified racing for his family-owned team, is also focusing on competition for his son in a Modified for 2023.”
Scaling back a “tick”. Unless you get a call from a tick named Mike apparently.
Any predictions on how this is going to work out race fans? I’ll go first. Rocco’s car last year with Blewett driving was as fast as any car on the track. Blewett was impressive driving as well the most successful invader I’d ever seen (not counting Tim Richmond). Super big name coming in so we fans have arguably one of the most unexpected and compelling drivers to follow this year in the ultra competitive SK’s. I’d expect Blewett to win that team and car are just too good not to. If for any reason the car loses it’s mojo, something that can happen when the deck gets shuffled in the off season, it is possible he might not even finish the season given the commute. Would not expect him to contend for the title given his driving style and the experience of the current crop of SK regulars.
OK now you…anyone?
Interesting.
The SK Mods are extremely competitive, and Blewett drives with his elbows up. He’ll fit right in.
Oh boy is it going to be fun at Stafford on Friday nights!! Can’t wait to tune in,I was completely wrong about Bryan bending front ends on the 85 ohhhh boy this is going to be good!! God bless showtime making that commute on Friday nights he should get an award for that!! Ahh glad I got flo.
I think his dirt driving experience upgraded his pavement driving. He semed to be a lot smoother on pavement since driving the dirt mod.
I will say… 2..Couple…Deuce … snake eyes… With all His experience and Chassis knowledge Jimmy should WIN at least 2 .. Two …Races…. The competition is probably the strongest division in the Country…But with handicapping being what it is … It’s really hard getting to the front each and every week…Throw in a few rough and tumble races… Jimmy will definitely stir the POT so to speak among the TOP runners…FLO RACING must be OVERJOYED with Showtime joining the WEEKLY series…It’s going to be real interesting how Rocco & Owen & Kopcik race with the new “INVADER” usually there are growing pains and turf wars that have to be sorted out.. The car is fast… the driver is fast…. We will all be tuned in to the SK’s in 2023 to see how this new dynamic works out ……I will go out on a LIMB and say Jimmy will ruffle a few feathers of the Stafford BIG 3…. wait for it ….
They said Narducci was out cause no money so a little confused . Love both drivers but even as a tour veteran, going to school man ! Stafford SK field from top to bottom some of the best so ? Love my Stafford guys ….. hope Narducci didn’t get screwed: he will be there and winning races ! Best of luck to Jimmy and all the SK teams
Sponsorship is a tough deal in racing, especially if your not a known commodity.
My dad and I sponsored Jim Peterson for many years. All in all we got 1 job because of it. But it was all worth it in the end. Jimmy “showtime” Blewitt is a known commodity who family has deep roots in modified racing, which probably contributed to the sponsorship dollars they’ve secured.
As for Bryan, I’d be willing to bet he lands a ride before the first green flag falls.