Jimmy Blewett of Howell won both the Tour Modified and Freehold Ford Modified main events during the 44th running of the Turkey Derby at Wall Stadium Speedway, while Holmdel’s Andrew Krause took to honors in a 50-lap race for Dirt Modified stock cars.
The Turkey Derby ran during Thanksgiving weekend from Nov. 24-26 and hosted one of the largest fields of competitors and grandstand crowds in recent memory.
In the Tour Modified 150-lapper, Blewett posted the top time in qualifying and rocketed to the lead at the outset. Blewett wrestled with Matt Hirschman of Northampton, Pennsylvania, early in the race before Krause took over the runner-up spot and chased Blewett to the finish. Brick’s Ron Frees was in contention the entire way before finishing third, with Ryan Preece and Kyle Elwood wrapping up the top five.
Blewett also set the fastest time in Freehold Ford Modified qualifying and again rocketed to the lead at the outset. Blewett wrestled with Jackson’s Steven Reed late in the race, as the duo charged to the front after mid-race pit stops. Toms River’s Derek Hopkinson led this one for 20 laps when Blewett and a host of others stopped for a two-tire change. Blewett finally returned to the lead for good late in the race, and Howell’s Eric Mauriello charged into second. Reed, Hirschman and Timmy Solomito wrapped up the top five.
“These wins took a lot of preparation,” Blewett said. “I’ve got the best crew in racing. They put a lot of time in at the shop. The Tour Modified win is real special because I used a car that was my brother’s. When he passed away, we sold this car and a lot of good drivers have raced it. We got the car back recently, and the crew worked hard to rebuild it.”
Krause won the 50-lap Dirt Modified competition after a race-long battle with early leader Ed Dachenhausen. The duo sliced through lapped traffic almost the entire distance, and a quick move by Krause in lapped traffic late in the race earned him the win. Jeff Richardson, Danny Bouc and Roger Labreche completed the top five.
“These dirt cars are a lot of fun, but also a lot of work,” Krause said. “I had some brake problems and had to pump the pedal in every turn just to slow the car down.”
Turkey Derby offered 14 feature races plus qualifying as well as a Demolition Derby.
More information on Wall Stadium can be obtained by visiting the website at wallspeedwayracing.com.
Wall Stadium is located on Route 34 in Wall Township, just 1 mile north of Garden State Parkway exit 98 and Interstate 195 exit 35B. The speedway hotline number is 732-681-6400 and email address is CKMotorsports@aol.com.
