On the record with Jim Hunter

RICHMOND, Va. – After 40 years of involvement with auto racing, Jim Hunter has a one-of-a kind perspective on the sport.

NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications started out working at Darlington Raceway in 1968, the same year that David Pearson won his second of three NASCAR titles and three years before Jeff Gordon was born.

Since then, Hunter has watched the sport grow from a regional favorite to what is has become today – a multi-billion dollar sports and entertainment juggernaut.

You can usually find him in the garage, an ever-present cigarette in hand (a throwback to when the sport was sponsored by a tobacco company), where his wealth of knowledge and historical perspective make Hunter a valuable resource.

Yahoo! Sports sat down with Hunter at Richmond International Raceway, site of this weekend's Chevy Rock and Roll 400 to get his take on several topics:

Y! Sports: What's been the biggest story of the year so far?

Hunter: I think overall from where I sit, Kyle Busch has indeed been the story of the year. The reason I say this is he was driving for one of the best teams in the sport and had limited success. He then goes to a different team that went to a different car and he has been absolutely phenomenal.

I put him in the same category as I put Jeff Gordon when he came into the sport, or even more so Darrell Waltrip, even though Waltrip didn't win a lot – he led a lot.

What Kyle Busch has done this year, in my years in this sport, I can't remember anybody dominating races, not just winning the way has.

He drives sideways. Watching him last weekend at California, he drove that car sideways. You talk about getting up on the wheel – he's up on the wheel.

Whether people like him, dislike him or whatever, he is talented.

Y!: How does Busch compare to some of the other colorful drivers of the past?

Hunter: His brashness and his cockiness reminds me of Darrell Waltrip when he came into the sport. When Waltrip came in, it was like people say about Busch now: "Who does he think he is? He thinks he should beat Richard Petty and David Pearson."

Busch thinks he should beat Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. And he's doing it.

You would never know based on Waltrip's popularity today how many fans booed him. By the same token, the sport's icon Dale Earnhardt Sr. was booed as much as he was cheered. He was aggressive.

One of the most memorable nights I can remember was here at Richmond in the spring when Busch and Dale Jr. were racing side by side. Finally, in Turn 3, Kyle got about halfway past Junior when Junior came down on him and they spun out, allowing Clint Bowyer to drive by while they tried not to wreck. People were saying, "The audacity of him to wreck Dale Earnhardt Jr.!"

Y!: There's a myth in NASCAR that the drivers are very accessible. How has access to drivers changed over the years?

Hunter: Back in the early days, that wasn't the kind of media coverage that there is today. Today, everything is so different. With sponsor commitments, a busy and regimented weekend schedule and other issues, by and large, the demands on a driver's time is very high.

In the old days, the track was open for practice all day. There weren't any companion races and there was plenty of time when the drivers were just sitting around. After a full day at the track, drivers used to head to their hotels. That's where fans and media would get most of their access – at the hotels at night. The drivers didn't have sponsor appearances to make or dinners to go to.

Y!: What would you change about this sport?

Hunter: I would like for us to be able to come up with a consistent start time that would satisfy the needs of everyone. That's hard to do.

The one thing you know about the NFL, there's an early game that starts at 1 p.m. and then there's a late game, usually on the West Coast, that starts between 4 and 4:30 p.m.

We're much better than we used to be. We used to be all over the place. Fans didn't know which network we'd be on from week to week or whether it would be cable. I would like to see this time thing work its way out and it will, over time.

One of the other things I'd like to see happen is I would like to see a schedule where the guys have a break in the season, where there isn't any 20-week runs. That is going to be so hard to do, to get a track to move a date. Next year there is a late break in the season, but that's more the way the calendar falls than anything else. Hopefully (getting more breaks in the schedule) will happen over the years.

And I hope the young drivers and the young crewmembers in the sport today appreciate where this sport is and how it got here. It's up to them to maintain it and to keep it going and not just be takers, but put something back in it.

Y!: Was there really "a good old days" of NASCAR?

Hunter: To me, there is no such thing as "the good old days." Although I would love to be younger – anybody my age wants to be younger.

In the good old days, there were no airplanes for drivers and crew to use to get back and forth to the race. There were no motorcoaches. You rode in a van to the race. There would be only six or eight cars capable of winning the race that had the resources, the people and everything else that a majority of the field did not have.

Races weren't won by seconds or even fractions of seconds, but by laps. And I certainly don't want to go back to that.

I think these are the good old days.

The competition is better. There are more well-financed and competitive teams that give more talented drivers an opportunity to race. And crew chiefs and crewmembers. The whole team aspect has been improved.

We have races now that are being won by fractions of a second after 400 miles have been run. That would have been unheard of in the past.

When I was at Darlington, I can remember most of the races there were won by one or more laps after 500 miles. At Charlotte, is was pretty much the same thing.

I don't want anyone to talk about the good old days. These are the good old days.

Y!: Some observers of the sport say that if you're not cheating in NASCAR you're not trying hard enough. It that the right attitude? How has the attitude towards cheating evolved in NASCAR?

There are some people who would like to see this sport have a cheating (aspect) associated with it. I can tell you from the sanctioning body's viewpoint, we don't. Some people say we snicker about it behind closed doors. That's not the case.

There is nothing good when you mention the word cheating. I don't care how people try and characterize it. Cheating is a dirty word.

Guys have always used the interpretation of rules to gain an advantage and some people have labeled that cheating. However, as a crew chief, if I firmly believe that if I do something in a certain manner and that's the way I interpret the rulebook and NASCAR tells me after the fact that's not the way that was intended, then that's considered cheating, too.

There are procedures that people can use to not be in that position of being dubbed cheaters when that happens. If you're not sure, you come to NASCAR ahead of time. Some people would rather not do that.

We want a level playing field for all competitors.

Y!: But doesn't the NASCAR rulebook allow for a wide interpretation of the rules?

Hunter: Part of the design of the new car is to get away from that kind of thinking. Look what happened when you let interpretation get out of hand (referring to the recent phenomenon known as "crabby cars"). The cars are lopsided.

Another example was three years ago at Texas. (Tony Stewart's car was confiscated for having an off-center greenhouse.)

Y!: Is there more cheating now than before?

Hunter: No. There's more media coverage. … There's more exposure of those who get caught than ever before.

Y!: The recent Tony Stewart story in Rolling Stone has raised many eyebrows. How has NASCAR been able to keep driver's personal lives, especially the negative stories, out of the public's eye more than any other major sport?

Hunter: I think that's developed over a period of years as a dependence on sponsors played a more important role. We've got some smart guys in the sport, and they don't want to run the risk of messing up a good livelihood. So, they're cognizant of what they can and cannot do. They're not saints.

The majority of our drivers come from a hard-working background and when they get to this level, they appreciate what it is that they have.

In their personal lives, they're more prone to be very private and be more careful when they're out in public.

Y!: Who has the toughest job in NASCAR?

Hunter: I think (NASCAR President) Mike Helton has the toughest job in all of sports.

When you think about trying to satisfy all of the competitors, all the tracks, all the sponsors, all the fans, your television partners and the rest of the media, you're not going to please everybody. It's an impossible job.

What's the best thing you've learned in this job?

Hunter: The spirit of this sport. I've learned in all my years in this sport, when things get bad or when things get tough – like the economy gets bad or somebody has a rough stretch – this sport bands together. If I had to go in the foxholes with anyone, I want some of the people in this business with me. When the chips are down, they show you what they're made of.

Y!: What's the best part of being involved with this sport?

Hunter: The people. You meet so many great people. You almost feel as if you have an extended family outside of your own personal family. Over a period of several years, I have friends in this business going back 30-40 years. I know there are writers I see only at the race track from all over the country that I'm still friends with.

I also like dealing with the media. Having been a sportswriter and knowing that they have a role to play. They have to ask the tough questions. I know I'm going to get the tough questions and, at times, people can get me a little riled up, which is not bad because I don't take it personal.