NASCAR’s media landscape has changed dramatically over the decades, from newspaper columns that brought the garage to readers’ homes to instant updates reaching fans on their phones. But behind today’s breaking news and live race coverage are storytellers who helped build the foundation of motorsports journalism. Monte Dutton was one of them.
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For decades, his writing for the Gaston Gazette informed fans while capturing the characters, humor, and heart of racing. Now, following news of his passing, NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass is remembering a voice whose impact went far beyond reporting results.
“Sad to see the news of the death of Monte Dutton. He was a pivotal member of the NASCAR media corps for decades writing for the Gaston Gazette. He for sure could tell and write a story that informed and entertained. RIP,” Pockrass wrote on X.
Dutton’s career spanned a transformative period for NASCAR, when newspaper coverage remained central to how fans followed the sport. His work helped bring readers closer to the drivers and personalities behind the wheel, offering more than race results and finishing positions.
Dutton’s journey through sports journalism began in South Carolina, where he worked as a sports editor before joining the Spartanburg Herald-Journal in 1993. He moved into motorsports writing and editing with FasTrack in Gastonia, North Carolina, before joining the Gaston Gazette in 1996. He also wrote the nationally syndicated NASCAR This Week column for King Features Syndicate and contributed to AOL Sports.
His career gave him a front-row seat to NASCAR’s evolution from a largely regional racing series into a national sporting attraction. Dutton covered the sport through changing generations of drivers, evolving competition rules, and the rise of television coverage. Yet his reporting was never limited to the action on track. He was known for bringing character, context, and perspective into his writing, helping readers understand the people and culture that made NASCAR distinctive.
His connection with Charlotte Motor Speedway was especially extensive. In a 2017 column published by Jeff Gluck, Dutton recalled covering approximately 40 consecutive points-paying races and 20 consecutive All-Star Races at the venue between 1993 and 2012. That run reflected the depth of his experience and the historical perspective he brought to the sport.
His talent also earned recognition beyond the NASCAR garage. Dutton collected multiple journalism honors, including awards from the National Motorsports Press Association and the Eastern Motorsports Press Association. In 2003, he received recognition for a Racing Milestones feature profiling Dale Earnhardt Jr., demonstrating his ability to turn a driver’s story into compelling journalism.
Pockrass was not alone in remembering Dutton’s contribution. Fellow NASCAR journalist Jeff Gluck reflected on a time when local newspapers invested heavily in motorsports coverage, with the Gaston Gazette sending a full-time writer to follow the racing circuit.
“This was a time when newspapers were still so prominent in NASCAR that the Gaston Gazette — the Gastonia, N.C. newspaper in suburban Charlotte — not only had a full-time NASCAR writer traveling the beat, but a skilled and veteran wordsmith, at that. It’s cliche to say Monte was one of a kind, but he certainly was. This is a guy who would take out his guitar late at night and play some tunes in the media parking lot after we all finished writing on deadline,” Gluck wrote.
That memory captures a side of Dutton that went beyond his professional achievements. He was not simply a writer who filed stories after races; he was part of the community that formed around the sport. His love of music, particularly Americana and alt-country, was well documented, and playing guitar was one of his passions away from the keyboard.
Dutton also brought that distinctive voice into his books. His work included Taking Stock: Life in NASCAR’s Fast Lane, which explored the sport’s growth and the personalities behind it, from prominent stars to less celebrated figures whose stories helped shape racing.
The tributes to Dutton also underline how much the media landscape has changed. Newspapers no longer occupy the same central position they once held, with fans now turning to digital platforms for instant updates, interviews, and analysis. But the foundations of NASCAR storytelling were built by journalists like Dutton who understood that the sport was about far more than cars circling a track.