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RIP Jim Hunter

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Moderator1, Oct 30, 2010.

  1. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Terrible news for anyone who covered NASCAR. I could tell lots of stories about my dealings with Jim, who should have written a book about being professional.

    http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/10/30/legendary-nascar-executive-jim-hunter-dies/
     
    Moderator1, Oct 30, 2010
    #1
  2. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    My favorite Hunter story...

    Whichever Daytona 500 it was when they busted Jimmie and Chad for cheating and kicked Chad out for four weeks...Hunter comes in to make the announcement wearing that yellow "NASCAR 48" hat. He kept getting weird looks and someone finally asks if the hat is in any way related to Jimmie, and Hunter just laughs and says it's to commemorate the founding of the sport...in 1948.

    Great freaking guy. Got to see him at Richmond last month, but didn't get to spend more than a few seconds with him. I'm going to miss him bunches.
     
    imjustagirl, Oct 30, 2010
    #2
  3. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Two stories from the Why I Love Jim Hunter files.

    1. During my brief SE days, I got a call from the track. We were running afoul of NASCAR's complex (and stupid as shit) video rules. The track PR person, someone else I respect, was caught in the crossfire of a shitstorm not her making. So I called Jim. Explained it to him. He gave me a four-word answer that I won't print here but it was priceless and typical Jim. And we ran the video.

    2. I was "site editor" at the track and we wanted to get someone in the scorer's tower for a story. No. Not happening. OK, that's cool. Then I find out AP has someone up there. I went to Jim and said I understood AP was AP but we also invested a lot of resources in that sport (this was a while ago, obviously, when the paper actually covered the sport). He said I had a legit point and got back to me. AP, he said, was up there for observational purposes and not writing a story. Again, OK.

    Before the night was over, he came up again and said, "I owe you an apology. They are up there writing a story. I can't do anything about it and I can't get you guys up there, but I had bad information and I just wanted to let you know."

    A simple thing that was much appreciated. He didn't have to do that. He didn't create the situation and he could have told me to F off from the start. But it was a professional thing to do and Jim was that above all else.

    I hate this news. I hate cancer. RIP Jim.
     
    Moderator1, Oct 30, 2010
    #3
  4. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    RIP. Only dealt with him once, over the phone, but he was indeed completely professional. And it was for the kind of story that someone in his position could have easily said "screw it" and not picked up the phone at all. But he was completely forthcoming.
     
    playthrough, Oct 30, 2010
    #4
  5. Mark DeCotis

    Mark DeCotis New Member

    Just the mention of his name brings smile to my face. He was always great for a story and I loved his yarn about the time Buddy Baker chased him through the garages at Darlington after he had written something Buddy obviously didn't care for.

    Also can remember when the then fat and hairy Tony Stewart and the always combative and obviously fed up with Stewart's antics Kurt Busch had a run-in during Bud Shootout practice at Daytona and both were summoned to the trailer where eventually a horde of us scandal mongers were camped out in search for either or both (they both skipped out through a side door).

    We waited for what seemed forever and finally out came Hunter with a cat ate the canary smile on his face that defused things and we all had a good laugh.

    He truly will be missed. It's yet another voice of days past that we no longer will be able to draw upon for perspective, something that is sorely missing in the sport these days.

    Hunter, Benny Parsons, Poole. Those three hurt particularly hard.

    It seems the older we get, they all hurt.
     
    Mark DeCotis, Nov 1, 2010
    #5
  6. smithsonryan

    smithsonryan New Member

    Really nice post, mark. He sure did love his golf. Maybe as much as nascar itself. He sure did love to talk about it.
     
    smithsonryan, Nov 1, 2010
    #6
  7. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I thought of Poole yesterday while driving a rental car with XM radio and buzzing by the NASCAR channel. You're so right, Mark.
     
    playthrough, Nov 1, 2010
    #7
  8. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Ah, the "Kurt's wearing sunglasses indoors so no one can see the bruising" Speedweeks. Good times.

    Bless you, Hunter.
     
    imjustagirl, Nov 1, 2010
    #8
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