By Greg Hazley
Jim Hunter, the longtime communications chief for NASCAR and a former reporter, died Oct. 29 after a year-long bout with lung cancer. He was 71.
Hunter
Image: NASCAR
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Hunter's career traced the popular rise of motorsports and NASCAR in particular as he was tapped in 2001 to lead the association's expanding PR operation.
“Jim Hunter was one of NASCAR’s giants,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. “For more than 40 years Jim was part of NASCAR and its history."
The VP of corporate communications for stock car racing's premiere association, Hunter started out covering the sport before moving to the PR side for Dodge's motorsports division.
"You are going to hear it over and over and over for a long time. He was just one of those individuals that will never be able to be replaced," Jeff Gordon, one of NASCAR's top drivers, said of Hunter.
Hunter's journalism career included the Columbia (S.C.) Record, where he was sports editor, as well as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Stock Car Racing magazine.
After working the PR beat for Dodge, he handled the press for IndyCar drivers before taking over PR duties at Darlington Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. He joined NASCAR in 1983 as VP of administration and bounced around speedway posts until he was tapped to lead NASCAR's expanding PR division in 2001.
"From his days as a PR Director at Talladega Superspeedway to his tenure as President of Darlington Raceway, Hunter was a driving force behind the sport’s growth in popularity," said International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy.
To honor Hunter, the Talladega has named its press box the "Jim Hunter Memorial Press Box." Said Talladega chairman Grant Lynch: “Of all the responsibilities Jim had as NASCAR VP of Corporate Communications, I don’t think he enjoyed any duty or responsibility more than his weekly battle of wits with the NASCAR media."
Hunter is survived by his wife of 48 years, Anne, two children and three grandchildren.
NASCAR in August moved to revamp its PR apparatus as Hunter moved into an advisory role amid his battle with cancer. Korn/Ferry International has been engaged to find a chief communications officer for the entity.
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