Welcome to “The Flipside of the Microphone” – a new podcast series on Q4G.  Think…. Inside the Actors Studio….. but instead of an actor – we talk with a member of the NASCAR Media.  They travel from track to track each weekend sticking their microphones in front of our favorite drivers…. and I thought it would be interesting to flip the microphone around….. and get to know more about some of our favorite NASCAR journalist.

Where did they grow up? What other jobs have they had? What’s the biggest story they ever broke?  All that plus we talk about the state of journalism in the NASCAR press box.

This week we talk with Jim Utter (@Jim_Utter) from the Charlotte Observer and ThatsRacin.com.   Jim and I talk about his start at the Observer in his early 20′s, how he made it to the NASCAR Press Box and some of the other beats he covered along the way.  We also touch base on the state of the media at the track.

Click play to hear the entire interview:  

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You can also check out the previous episodes of The Flip Side of the Microphone:  Reid Spencer: from the NASCAR Wire Service, Lewis Franck from Reuters and Ryan McGee from ESPN and Jeff Gluck from SB Nation.com