Tråd: Jim Hunters lang, dedikeret karriere i NASCAR tjener sin plads i NMPAs Hall

Jim Hunter selvklæbende en lang og succesfuld karriere har jeg mange roller med NASCAR og et par af huler speedways. Han er blevet valgt til NMPA ' s Hall of Fame.

Før jeg fortælle grave om min ven, den afdøde Jim Hunter, der er en af de nyeste medlemmer af de Nationale Motorsport Press Association Hall of Fame, jeg vil gerne tilbyde dig en kort historie lektion.
Der var en tid - før min tid - når regelmæssig NASCAR mediedækning var næsten ikke-eksisterende.
Jeg modsætning til i dag, når det kom til dækning, aviser afholdt sway. Radio var intermitterende tv og var ligeglad. Og som du nemt kan afgøre, cyberspace var uhørt.
Så fans høstet de fleste af deres nyheder fra hjemby avisens sportssektion. Nå, lad mig ændre det - det er, kan du downloade fans syd for Mason-Dixon line fik deres nyheder.
Dermed et det Sydlige motorsport værelser - da, der tydeligvis ikke arbejde for en Indianapolis avis - var en værdifuld den tidligere jugoslaviske republik, ikke kun for hans læsere, mænd også for NASCAR.
Der var få af dem. Oftest er den nyhed, de der meldes om deres hjemby spor. I nærheden af NASCAR begivenheder andre steder blev præsenteret, tersely, af nyhedstjenester.
Jeg 1960'erne aviser, der betragtes som NASCAR dækning af afgørende betydning var placeret jeg Daytona Beach, Atlanta, Charlotte, Columbia, Firenze, Spartanburg, Roanoke, Greensboro, og på en noget mindre omfang, Birmingham, Greenville, og Bristol.
Deres motorsport forfattere flittigt, der er omfattet af den lokale begivenheder, skrev funktioner og tilbød kommentar. Men det gjorde de ikke strejfe meget langt.
Deres papirer var ligeglad med, ved at betale for udvidet dækning.
Jæger kom ud af University of South Carolina, hvor han var en splejset fodbold wide receiver, og vist sig som en sport, værelser til Columbia papir.
Jeg er hans dage som motorsport journalist, Hunter var en velkendt figur jeg garage område, som kunne søge venskab med legender som David Pearson (til højre).

Blandt andet han var en del af motorsport slå. Jeg er ikke helt sikker headset, kan du downloade han accepterede, at det jeg i første omgang, men jeg ved, han blev da af-Columbia ' s mest initiativrige forfattere.
Han troede ikke headsettet, andet end ved at give sit bedste. Download kan jeg vide? Som jeg sagde, han var initiativrig. For ham, der dækker da løbet var én ting - mænd ved rapportere om NASCAR og dets folk var en anden, og lige så vigtigt, en del af jobbet.
Hunter engang tilbragte natten jeg Darlington ' s berygtede indmarken til at indgive et stykke om den oplevelse.
“Som jeg husker, det jeg gjorde ikke et særlig godt job,” sagde han.
Nå, det er forståeligt, hvis du ikke er forberedt for alle-natten, som jeg kan tilføje, på Fangeren var. Ikke desto mindre, i det han gjorde det.
Som tiden presset headset Hunter blev da samarbejdspartner med slutningen af Joe Whitlock. Sammen har de dannet en arbejdsgruppe “corporation”, der giver, som en tandem, mere end tilstrækkeligt, nyheder og underholdning - især for læsere af deres tid.
Alle i garage område, der kendte dem.
Nej, de blev ikke pionererne inden for NASCAR dækning. I stedet de blev til at lande.
Da jeg første gang mødte Hunter jeg midten af 70'erne han havde flyttede til Atlanta.
Jeg var ny, mænd, han har aldrig betragtet mig som en opkomling. Snarere, jeg blev hans lige. Han tilbød rådgivning, fortalte historier og aldrig foreslået, at der måske jeg var jeg over mit hoved.
Jeg lyttede til hvert et ord han sagde.
Hunter sammen med den sene Pik Thompson, public relations-direktør jeg Martinsville Speedway, rådede mig mere end én gang på de bedste historier jeg racing ikke kom fra begivenhederne. De kom fra folk.
Hunter flyttede, og jeg kan tilføje, til brava for sin karriere. Han blev den public relations-direktør jeg Darlington, Talladega og NASCAR sig selv.
Han udviklede sig til en rolle som formand for Darlington, og derefter steg til at blive vice president, public relations for NASCAR, er hans holdning, da han gik bort Okt. 29, 2010, efter en årelang kamp med kræft.
Hele hans professionnelle liv var involveret jeg NASCAR.
Men det gjorde ikke noget, hvilken stilling han beklædte. Han var altid sig selv. Der var ingen følelse af betydningsfuldhed, ingen luft overlegenhed.
Et medlem af medierne, var, skinke, en person af betydning. Hvorfor? Enkel. Han havde været en. Han vidste, hvad jobbet indebar; hvad tv-stationerne/værelser nødvendigt.
Så han var let tilgængelige. Han var altid en kilde til information. Jeg kender utallige gange", når han ville komme ind media center, sætte sig ned og besvare alle de spørgsmål, som blev stillet ham - og det gjorde han så godt ind i en æra af Internettet og sociale medier.
Når han fløj fra Daytona Beach til Concord, NC, bare for at give mig et interview.
Jeg har engang kørte til Darlington til en anden samtale, og han insisterede headset, ved vi spiser frokost sammen - der blev ved en pølsevogn. Mænd til hans uhøjtidelige selv, syntes det den naturlige ting i gøre.
Han altid tog hans opkald fra medierne, når han kunne. Når han ikke kunne, han vendte dem.
Som en ven, jeg kunne altid drilleri med ham - og jeg var ikke alene. Jeg var blandt de få, der kaldte ham “den Store Hvide Jæger.” Ja, det var noget vrøvl. Mænd, mellem os, vi vidste, hvad det var.
Min kæreste hukommelse headset Hunter, der skete for flere år siden headset dennes hovedkvarter jeg Daytona.
Jeg var der med et par personer, der var i søgning af NASCAR ' s tilbud til en filmsekvens projekt, som jeg kan tilføje, er jeg stadig fremskridt.
Når de høres Hunter fortalte han dem noget, som jeg anså for at være på indlysende. Han sagde, “Vi ved at du kan gøre denne film med os eller uden for os. Vi vil hellere have du gør det med os.”
Så sagde han:
“Du er meget heldig i har Steve Waid om bord med grave. Jeg kan forsikre dig, at det er en god ting. Alle kender ham. Alle kan lide ham.”
Ja, det var PR. Ja han gjorde sit job. Mænd, når han sagde, at det var der en betydelig forskel - han kiggede mig lige jeg øjnene, som om at fortælle mig, i det han mente et hvert ord.
Jeg har aldrig glemt de ord.
Heller ikke fra de dage, hvor jeg søgte efter mine ben, som en journalist, og til dem, da jeg blev ene, vil jeg nogensinde.
Den NMPA har gjort et godt valg for synd Hall of Fame.
Hvorfor?
Ikke fordi Jim Hunter var min veninde og en til mange andre.
Det er snarere, fordi det har valgt en mand, hvis ultimative levetid arbejde og dedikation til sporten jeg sig selv.
Og det er så meget bedre til det.

Attachment 3891Jim Hunter enjoyed a long and successful career in many roles with NASCAR and a couple of its speedways. He has been elected to the NMPA’s Hall of Fame.

Before I tell you about my friend, the late Jim Hunter, who is one of the newest members of the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, I would like to offer a brief history lesson.
There was a time – before my time – when regular NASCAR media coverage was almost non-existent.
Unlike today, when it came to coverage, newspapers held sway. Radio was intermittent and television didn’t care. And, as you can easily determine, cyberspace was unheard of.
So fans garnered most of their news from the hometown newspaper’s sports section. Well, let me amend that – that’s how fans south of the Mason-Dixon line got their news.
Thus a Southern motorsports writer – one who obviously didn’t work for an Indianapolis newspaper – was a valuable guy, not only for his readers, but also for NASCAR.
There were few of them. Most often the news they reported was about their hometown tracks. Any account of NASCAR events elsewhere was presented, tersely, by wire services.
In the 1960s newspapers that considered NASCAR coverage vital were located in Daytona Beach, Atlanta, Charlotte, Columbia, Florence, Spartanburg, Roanoke, Greensboro, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Birmingham, Greenville, and Bristol.
Their motorsports writers diligently covered the local events, wrote features and offered commentary. But they didn’t roam very far.
Their papers didn’t care to pay for extended coverage.
Hunter came out of the University of South Carolina, where he was a scrawny football wide receiver, and emerged as a sports writer for the Columbia paper.
Attachment 3892In his days as a motorsports journalist, Hunter was a familiar figure in the garage area who could claim friendship with such legends as David Pearson (right).

Among other things he was part of the motorsports beat. I am not sure how he accepted that at first but I know he became one of Columbia’s most enterprising writers.
He didn’t believe in anything other than giving his best. How do I know? As I said, he was enterprising. For him, covering a race was one thing – but to report on NASCAR and its people was another, and equally important, part of the job.
Hunter once spent the night in Darlington’s infamous infield to file a piece about the experience.
“As I remember, I didn’t do a particularly good job,” he said.
Well, that is somewhat understandable if you are not prepared for all-night partying, which, I might add, Hunter was. Nevertheless, he did it.
As time pressed on Hunter became a working partner with the late Joe Whitlock. Together they formed a working “corporation” that provided, as a tandem, more than sufficient news and entertainment – especially for the readers of their time.
Everyone in the garage area knew them.
No, they were not the pioneers of NASCAR coverage. Instead, they were innovators.
When I first met Hunter in the mid-‘70s he had moved on to Atlanta.
I was new, but he never regarded me as an upstart. Rather, I was his equal. He offered advice, told stories and never suggested that perhaps I was in over my head.
I listened to every word he said.
Hunter, along with the late Dick Thompson, the public relations director at Martinsville Speedway, counseled me more than once that the best stories in racing didn’t come from the events. They came from the people.
Hunter moved on, and, I might add, to the benefit of his career. He became the public relations director at Darlington, Talladega and NASCAR itself.
He evolved into a role as president of Darlington and then rose to become the vice president of public relations for NASCAR, his position when he passed on Oct. 29, 2010 after a yearlong battle with cancer.
His entire professional life was imbedded in NASCAR.
But it didn’t matter what position he held. He was always himself. There was no sense of self-importance, no air of superiority.
A member of the media was, to him, someone of importance. Why? Simple. He had been one. He knew what the job entailed; what the broadcaster/writer needed.
So he was readily available. He was always a source of information. I know of countless times when he would come into media centers, sit down and answer every question asked of him – and he did so well into the era of the Internet and social media.
He once flew from Daytona Beach to Concord, N.C., just to provide me with an interview.
I once drove to Darlington for another interview and he insisted that we have lunch together – which was at a hot dog stand. But to his unpretentious self, it seemed the natural thing to do.
He always took his calls from the media when he could. When he couldn’t, he returned them.
As a long-time friend I could always banter with him – and I was not alone. I was among the few who called him “Great White Hunter.” Yeah, it was nonsense. But, among us, we knew what it represented.
My fondest memory of Hunter happened several years ago at his headquarters in Daytona.
I was there with a couple of individuals who were in search of NASCAR’s help for a motion picture project, which, I might add, is still in progress.
When they consulted Hunter he told them something I considered to be obvious. He said, “We know you can make this movie with us or without us. We would rather have you do it with us.”
Then he said:
“You are very fortunate to have Steve Waid on board with you. I can assure you this is a good thing. Everybody knows him. Everybody likes him.”
Yes, it was PR. Yes, he was doing his job. However, when he said it there was a significant difference – he looked me straight in the eye as if to tell me he meant every word.
I have never forgotten those words.
Nor, from the days when I searched for my legs as a journalist and to those when I became one, will I ever.
The NMPA has made an excellent choice for its Hall of Fame.
Why?
Not because Jim Hunter was my friend and one to many others.
Rather, it is because it has elected a man whose ultimate lifetime work and dedication were to the sport itself.
And it is so much the better for it.