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
Hampton, Ga. – “The Wreck” at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday wound up overshadowing everything else that happened there that day, which is what is to be expected when wrecks are used as one of the main tools to promote NASCAR racing.
Among the stories that were shuffled aside Sunday night [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Unless there’s something going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about, NASCAR president Mike Helton has said “Have at it, boys” a lot louder than his VP Robin Pemberton said it back in January.
By only placing Carl Edwards on a three-race probation for intentionally wrecking Brad Keselowski at [...]
Hampton, Ga. – For the second time in less than a year, I’ve sat in a press box at a high-speed NASCAR track and watched a car be spun around, lift off the ground, turn upside down and slam into a retaining wall and catchfence.
At Talladega Superspeedway last year, it was Carl Edwards flying into [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Hampton, Ga. – For some time now, there’s been debate about whether the burgeoning business side of NASCAR negatively impacts the sporting side.
Saturday’s E-Z-GO 200 Camping World Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway showed that the business side can actually make for a better show on the race track.
Kevin Harvick [...]
Hampton, Ga. – There are always a few images that stick with you after a weekend at the races.
One that is enduring from Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway is of Modified driver Tim Brown walking back and forth from the makeshift Modified pits behind Turn One to the Sprint Cup garage on the Turn Four [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Hampton, Ga. – Of all the stories in the NASCAR garage, Timothy Peters’ is as good as they come.
His is a story of taking risks, and overcoming odds and pressing ahead in the face of uncertainty with a smile on his face when a more realistic person would be in [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Hampton, Ga. – For most of his Sprint Cup career, Regan Smith has been known for almost winning the October, 2008, Sprint Cup race at Talladega. Some will still argue that he did win since he crossed the finish line first only to be penalized for going below the yellow [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Hampton, Ga. – Saturday’s E-Z-GO Camping World Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be a big test for both Kyle Busch and for his former truck team, Billy Ballew Motorsports.
Together they’ve won four of the past five truck races at Atlanta, Ballew’s home track. But now that Busch [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Hampton, Ga. – Ed Clark is the resident Big Man at Atlanta Motor Speedway, both literally and figuratively.
But to old-timers around the Hampton speed plant, the original Big Man at the Atlanta track was Alf Knight.
Knight was a tough, no-nonsense man who gave more to the Atlanta track than he [...]
Ryan Newman, the race driver with the engineering degree, said that going back to the rear spoiler instead of a wing will facilitate side drafting, and that will lead to much better racing on the bigger, faster tracks.
“This is speculation from my standpoint (but) the way the spoiler is designed, there’s going to be a [...]