Rick Minter, Senior Writer
Rick Minter joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1991, where he covered motorsports as well as serving as a bureau chief. From 2000-2008 he focused on racing exclusively, traveling the NASCAR circuit as the paper’s motorsports writer and winning awards from several organizations including the Georgia20 Automobile Racing Hall of Fame Association and the City of Atlanta. Minter and his wife Joanne live on the family farm in Inman, Ga. In his spare time he collects and restores antique tractors and trucks.
Articles by Rick Minter
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin declared a victory of sorts over NASCAR in his first session with the media since it was revealed that he wouldn’t appeal his $25,000 fine for his comments about the racing at Phoenix International Raceway and that NASCAR would deduct the fine from his future [...]
When the press releases and news reports about Tia Norfleet planning to be the first black female to race in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series came out, long-time followers of the Georgia short track scene likely thought: “Here we go again.”
Back around 2000, Norfleet’s father Bobby Norfleet showed up for Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway with similar [...]
Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
In light of NASCAR’s $25,000 fine imposed on Denny Hamlin for his mild criticism of the Generation-6 race car and the kind of racing it produced at Phoenix last week, racing that saw Carl Edwards lead the final 78 laps without a serious challenge and others complaining about the difficulty of [...]
Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
In an era in which the entire sport of NASCAR seems to roll out the red carpet, so to speak, for cross-over open-wheel drivers like Danica Patrick and Juan Pablo Montoya, it’s hard to imagine that it wasn’t always that way.
Among the career accomplishments of the great Mario Andretti is a [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Sitting on a carpet of grass, barely 100 yards from Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway, is a replica of the 1963 Ford Galaxie that Tiny Lund drove to victory in the Daytona 500 on a Sunday afternoon 50 years ago to the day from this [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Budweiser Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday are in the books. Two relatively uneventful finishes, two predictable victory interview sessions from Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.
Where’s Mike Stefanik when you need him?
For anyone who might have missed it, Stefanik, the seven-time NASCAR Modified series [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Speedway Motorsports chairman Bruton Smith told reporters in attendance at last week’s Media Tour that he wanted NASCAR to do something to end the practice of teams starting and parking in races. He also appealed to NASCAR to reduce the top speeds of race cars, using the argument that racing [...]
The Southeastern short track world lost one of its icons on Jan. 4 with the passing of Luther Carter.
Carter, who died at 75 after a battle with cancer, was an old-school racer who passed his love of the sport along to his son Mark Carter, who became a racer himself, as well as his grandson [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Watching fans file past the press box at Talladega Superspeedway makes one wonder which of the Chase contenders would be able to bring back the blue-collar fans who have deserted NASCAR in recent years.
Talladega was and is Earnhardt country, as Dale Sr. and Dale Jr. have been [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
HAMPTON, Ga. – A colleague, Monte Dutton, wrote this week about how Atlanta Motor Speedway, despite its name, isn’t really an Atlanta track.
He’s right. It’s in Hampton, a small southern suburb and a location that many question given the larger population centers on the north side of Atlanta.
But back when [...]