WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — John Blewett III’s No. 76 was officially retired from all divisions by Wall Township Speedway in memory of the 2006 track champion and 21-time modified feature winner who died at Thompson Speedway in August.
Brother Jimmy Blewett drove in both modified races carrying the number and the trademark red, white and blue paint scheme for the last time. Jimmy’s tour-rules entry was his regular Eddie Partridge ride on the Whelen Modified Tour painted for the occasion, while the Wall-rules car was the machine in which John III scored his final Wall victory on opening night of 2007 and will be preserved by the Blewett family.
John III’s son, John W. Blewett, gave the starting command for both Turkey Derby modified races.

• The AMB computer scoring system used by Wall and many other short tracks proved its worth Saturday. Its display of every lap time turned by every car documented that Justin Gumley remained on the lead lap throughout the confusing sequence of caution flags and pit stops in the track-rules modified race. 

• James Civali and Burt Myers weren’t the only Wall newcomers to shine at the Turkey Derby. Andrew Jankowiak, son of the late modified star Tony Jankowiak, towed all the way from Buffalo and won Sunday’s factory stock race after being spun out while leading Saturday. With Wall’s street stock class now a virtual late model on treaded tires, the factory stocks, known elsewhere as pure stocks or bombers, have become a popular entry-level division.

• Marriage seems to agree with Tony Ferrante, Jr.
Two weeks after walking the aisle, Ferrante scored his first Turkey Derby podium finish since he was runner-up to Lenny Boyd in 1990. Now a part-time runner on the Whelen Modified Tour, Ferrante scored four Wall modified wins in the 1980s. His father, Tony Ferrante, Sr. fielded the Derby-winning cars of Jim Hendrickson in 1975 and 1976.

• A welcome returnee to Turkey Derby competition was Vinnie Green, whose violent crash down the back straight in 1981 has been compared to Michael Waltrip’s later Bristol accident for sheer destruction.
Green returned from a broken leg suffered in the ’81 mishap to win 10 modified features — the last in 1994. He’s been out of the cockpit for a decade or more before his son started racing in 2007. Green made the track rules modified race through the consi but finished 22nd.

• For the first time in many years Jamie Tomaino was seen in a car not numbered 99.
He picked up a ride in the Martinelli Racing entry usually driven on the Dart Race of Champions circuit by Zane Zeiner. “The Jet” settled for 11th in the tour type modified feature, one lap down.