"The
Good Old Days"
Tribute to Milt Minter
Photograph
30

Excerpt
from “Behind the Wall…with J.J. O’Malley”
10/31/2003 Daytona Beach, FL
One of the web forums asked, "Who is Milt Minter?"
Glad you asked. "He is the first professional driver my
dad ever worked with," said Gunnar Jeannette, who will
co-drive the Gunnar Racing No. 5 Porsche GT1 with Minter and
Chad McQueen. "That was back in 1977 at Road Atlanta, in
a Porsche 934," added his father, Kevin Jeannette. "Milt
is a blast from the past. Porsche awarded him the Pedro Rodriguez
Award in 1973 as the most aggressive driver of the season. He
was second to George Follmer in the 1973 Can-Am. Back in the
'70s, he drove for Michael Keyser's Toad Hall team. He also
drove a Porsche 917/10 for Vasek Polak. He drove for Al Holbert,
Ted Field and a number of different teams. He's been racing
since 1957. "Milt's health hasn't been good, so I wanted
to give him one last fling." Minter also was the first
independent to win a Trans-Am race, driving a Pontiac. He won
an IMSA race at Laguna Seca in 1974, and finished second at
Sebring in 1973. He also raced at Le Mans and the Baja 1000.
Minter was an eight-time competitor in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
He finished second overall and won the GT class in his first
start in the endurance classic in 1973, joining Francois Migault
in a NART Ferrari 365GTB. Winning that year's event was Hurley
Haywood and Peter Gregg in a Brumos Porsche. Minter finished
sixth in the 1976 Daytona classic, joining Chris Cord and Jim
Adams in a Ferrari, and teamed with Elliott Forbes-Robinson
and Paul Newman to place finish overall in 1977, driving for
Ramsey Ferrari. In 1980, he placed third overall with Ted Field
and Danny Ongais in an Interscope Porsche 935. In recent years,
Minter has kept active in the sport through coaching, driving
schools and occasional vintage competition. "I like helping
other people," he said.

A
few of the old photos of the good old days of racing.
Milt driving for Desperado Racing back in the 70's.

Sear
Point, July 1978. Milt with red hat, Kevin with beard, Melissa
(Milt's wife) with white t-shirt.

Daytona
Finale 2003

Milt,
Kevin & Bob Shafer

Homestead
2004

Milt
with his good buddy


We
are so proud to have had the opportunity to have Milt in a couple
of our cars recently. We are thinking about him during his difficult
struggle with cancer and send him our sincere wishes to find
peace.
"Donkey
Bop"
Sadly,
Milt passed away on December 23rd. We'll never forget ya Milty!
Here is a copy of his obituary:
Milt
"Donkey Bop!" Minter
MILT MINTER
"Donkey Bop!" Milt, a professional race car driver
for 50 years, passed away peacefully at his home surrounded
by his family on Thursday, December 23, 2004. One of the highlights
of his career was receiving the Pedro Rodriguez Trophy from
the niece of Dr. Ferdinand Porsche at the Porsche Factory in
Stuttgart, Germany, for being the most aggressive Porsche driver.
He was born and raised in Sanger and he served in the US Navy
as a radioman for four years. He is survived by Melissa his
wife of 32 years; his son Miltie; his daughter Kelsie; granddaughter
Jessica; and sister Dorothy Starr. A Memorial Service for Milt
commemorating his full and happy life will be held on Saturday,
January 8, 2005, at 2:00 p.m. The location is 14835 E. Olive
Avenue, Sanger, CA. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be
made to Milt Minter Family Fund, c/o Roger T. Nuttall, Attorney,
2333 Merced Street, Fresno, CA 93721. Published in the Fresno
Bee on 1/2/2005.
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