Former NASCAR exec Jim Hunter to be honored

   Former NASCAR executive and Darlington Raceway President Jim Hunter is among the members of the Class of 2012 to be inducted into the S.C. Athletic Hall of Fame.

    Hunter joins South Carolina football great Duce Staley and former baseball coach June Raines; Clemson basketball standout Dale Davis; Spartanburg High’s Stephen Davis; and AAU legend Evelyn “Eckie” Jordan in the 2012 class.

    Wilhelm and Hunter will be enshrined posthumously in the ceremony Monday night at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

    A Charleston native, Hunter started with NASCAR in 1968 as the public relations director at Darlington and then served as track president from 1993 to 2001. He served as NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications at the time of his death in 2010.

    Hunter played football and baseball at the University of South Carolina and then joined The State newspaper in the 1960’s where he earned the nickname “Fumes” for his coverage of NASCAR.