Jack Hewitt
Jack Hewitt (born July 8, 1951, Troy, Ohio), is a former driver and two-time champion in the USAC Silver Crown Series.
Racing career
He raced in the 1998 Indianapolis 500, placing 12th. After his venture into Indycars he returned to sprint cars until he had a very serious crash in 2002 from which he was lucky to escape with his life.
On September 26, 1998, Jack won the USAC Sprint, USAC Midget, USAC Silver Crown, and UMP Modified features at Eldora Speedway. By doing so he became the first and only driver to win all four divisions of racing at the 4-Crown Nationals held at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. [1]
Jack Hewitt also made several trips to Australia during his career. He first appeared as part of the four man USA sedan teams that raced mainly at the Liverpool Speedway and Newcastle Motordrome during the late 1970s and early 1980s (while sometimes also driving Sprintcars). He won he 1980 Marlboro Grand National 100 lap event at Liverpool and later in the decade returned to Australia as a Sprintcar driver, winning the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at the Permier Speedway in Victoria in 1991 where he defeated fellow American Danny Smith, and leading Australian driver Max Dumesny.
Current life
As of July 2008, Jack is a coach and mentor to Lee Stark, a sprint driver of Brownsburg, Indiana.
Honors and awards
- Hewitt was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2002.
- He is honored with an annual car race called the Jack Hewitt Classic at Waynesfield Raceway Park in Waynesfield, Ohio. The Jack Hewitt Classic has been held in years past at the Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo, Indiana, and also at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio