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
It was a moment Beau Slocumb’s fans and friends had been praying for all year long. The 24-year-old Juliette, Ga. native was at Atlanta Motor Speedway’s quarter-mile Legends track doing what he does best – driving a race car.
Early this year, Slocumb was on the fast track to a professional [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
When it comes to personal vehicles, I’ve always tended to adopt the same philosophy as the start-and-park teams in NASCAR. The goal is to try to remain in the transportation game but have as many dollars as possible left over at the end of the day.
My cars won’t ever win [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program has plugged along for several years, with some positive results. Still the sport’s participants and fans remain predominately white.
Black Americans have played roles in NASCAR over the years, but rarely in starring spots.
Wendell Scott, the long-time Cup campaigner from Danville, Va., is the name that [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
This week’s NASCAR teleconference was livelier than usual. Kasey Kahne was the featured speaker, and some interesting subjects, some on-track and some off, were discussed. Here’s a look at a few of them.
* Points racing:
One of the most interesting topics was the importance of race wins versus making the cut [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
If a modern-day driver is going to tie a mark held for 38 years by two giants like Richard Petty and Bobby Allison, it seems only fitting that an old-school racer would be the one to do it.
That’s exactly what happened at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday as Californian Ron Hornaday [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Thursday Observations:
* In recent years NASCAR has begun making all sorts of on-track data available to teams, media and fans. There are all sorts of “loop data” numbers available, made possible by the latest electronic scoring loops that have been placed at every track.
But the one bit of information not [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
When Bill Elliott decided part of the way into the 2007 Sprint Cup season that he was coming out of semi-retirement to drive the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford, he made it clear that it wouldn’t be one of those deals where he rested on his laurels and cashed in [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Joe Gibbs Racing has staked a claim to best in class in Sprint Cup, or at least that’s the way Denny Hamlin sized it up on this week’s NASCAR teleconference.
Hamlin said the three-team JGR outfit is the best of the non-Hendrick or Hendrick-affiliated teams.
“Week in, week out, it’s a Hendrick [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is special to many drivers, which is natural given the track’s heritage. But few are identified with it like Tony Stewart.
Stewart grew up just down the road from the speedway, in Columbus and Rushville. And racing at Indy was a big part of his life, long before [...]
By Rick Minter | Senior Writer
RacinToday.com
Midweek Observations:
* There’s considerable debate out there this week about whether NASCAR’s honeymoon phase with Indianapolis Motor Speedway has come to an end. That’s probably a given no matter how things have gone at the Brickyard over the years. But it’s important to note that NASCAR has been running there [...]