UPDATE 4/14/2020 3:34 P.M. PST: Man, life really comes at you at 200 mph when you’re in this kind of trouble.
Just two days after saying the N-word on a virtual racing stream being viewed by thousands, NASCAR star Kyle Larson has officially been FIRED. His company, Chip Ganassi Racing, released a statement Tuesday turning his suspension into something more permanent:
“After much consideration, Chip Ganassi Racing has determined that it will end its relationship with driver Kyle Larson. As we said before, the comments that Kyle made were both offensive and unacceptable especially given the values of our organization. As we continued to evaluate the situation with all the relevant parties, it became obvious that this was the only appropriate course of action to take.”
Larson was going to be a free agent anyway — and one of the most valuable. We imagine now no one will want to touch him with a 10 foot pole position. Ouch.
Think you can get away with blatant racism in 2020? Not so fast… as race car driver Kyle Larson found out on Monday.
As with most sports during the pandemic, NASCAR has had to cancel its big events, which draw crowds of thousands together into packed speedways. However, the racing organization has been trying hard to figure out how to shift gears for their audience — and their athletes.
The solution? iRacing. Esports already have a huge audience, and watching pro racers participating in a video game version of the sport seems like a natural replacement given the options at hand.
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Unfortunately for Larson, one of the biggest differences is the fact viewers who usually can’t hear you over the sound of blaring engines can now listen in to every word. The 27-year-old was apparently having some technical difficulties with his headset during Sunday’s virtual race — or so he thought — because he said:
“You can’t hear me? Hey, n*****.”
The next sound you can hear in the video, which was shared on Twitter almost immediately, is the air being sucked out of the room. After a couple seconds, other participants in the race start responding:
“Wow, hey.”
“Kyle, you’re talking to everyone, bud.”
“Yep, we heard that.”
“Oh, damn, he did not just…”
“Yikes.”
“Don’t say anything.”
Watch the instant fallout for yourself:
Well, @KyleLarsonRacin apparently dropping an n-bomb could be the biggest story in sports this weekend. pic.twitter.com/5gmkbcK6yM
— A.J. Perez (@byajperez) April 13, 2020
It only took a few hours for the news to get around — and for the hammer to come down on Larson. The company he works for, Chip Ganassi Racing, released a statement Monday morning saying:
“We are extremely disappointed by what Kyle said last night during an iRacing Event. The words that he chose to use are offensive and unacceptable. As of this moment we are suspending Kyle without pay while we work through this situation with all appropriate parties.”
Kylie was on the last year of his contract with Chip Ganassi Racing and was about to become an extremely valuable free agent — but his disturbing word choice may have cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s if he gets to race again, as NASCAR suspended him indefinitely! Their statement reads:
“NASCAR has made diversity and inclusion a priority and will not tolerate the type of language used by Kyle Larson during Sunday’s iRacing event. Our Member Conduct Guidelines are clear in this regard, and we will enforce these guidelines to maintain an inclusive environment for our entire industry and fan base.”
Ironically, Kyle Larson was actually part of the push for diversity; he’s half-Japanese and was moved up from short track racing into NASCAR through its Drive for Diversity program. Not only that, he was a huge success story for the program, as he’s still the only driver of Japanese descent to win a major race.
Now he may have set back the organization’s progress by a decade — we mean, you have to assume now he’s surely not the only one who speaks like that when no one is listening. Some of the other voices on that video could be interpreted as less offended by the words and more protective of the man who said them.
Speaking of defense, what does Larson have to say for himself? He eventually took to Twitter to apologize, saying he “made a mistake and said the word that should never ever be said.”
“There’s no excuse for that; I wasn’t raised that way — it’s just an awful thing to say… I feel very sorry for my family, my friends, my partners, the NASCAR community and especially the African American community.”
He also acknowledged the “damage is probably unrepairable.” You can see the full apology video for yourself (below):
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) April 13, 2020
What do YOU think of this apology? Are you shocked to have heard such racism coming from a NASCAR driver??
[Image via Johnny Louis/WENN/Kyle Larson/Twitter.]
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