Sunday night, Kyle Larson used a racist slur while competing in an iRacing event, and other race participants, as well as fans watching the livestream, heard him use the N-word.
Less than 48 hours later, Chip Ganassi Racing announced that it fired the 27-year-old NASCAR driver after several sponsors — including Chevrolet, McDonald’s and Credit One Bank — either suspended or terminated their relationship with Larson. He was previously suspended Monday by Ganassi without pay and indefinitely by NASCAR, after which he tweeted a video apologizing for using the slur.
While the vast majority of NASCAR’s biggest drivers have not commented publicly on the subject, Joey Logano was asked about it while doing an interview with NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico.
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Sharing his thoughts on Larson’s behavior and the early fallout, Logano said:
“Obviously, it’s a tough situation for the whole sport, right? It’s something that obviously none of us want to hear. And the facts are: Hey, when we sign up for this, we know that you’re supporting and representing Fortune 500 companies. You look at Shell, Pennzoil, Coca-Cola, Ford — these are all huge companies that you are representing.
“Even more importantly, you’re representing your own brand, whether it’s the Joey Logano brand or whatever it is. You always have to be on. Someone always has that camera phone, someone always has the ability to show what you’re doing. And it’s a good reminder for all of us. Whether you’re a race car driver or not, whether you’re working at the bank or the grocery store, pumping gas, whatever you may be doing — your brand is always the most important, and everyone sees that all the time. And you always have to think of: What is my brand? And what do I want it to be? How do I want to be represented? And that’s the things that we have to think about all the time.
“Moments like this are good reminders. I hate to see that happen to Kyle. I feel for him and his family. Obviously, a huge adjustment from what it was two days ago. But things like that are not accepted in our society, and they shouldn’t be.”
Larson was in the final year of his contract with Ganassi and was presumably the most highly sought-after upcoming free agent who would have likely had his choice of organizations to join. His future in NASCAR and the world of motor sports is now significantly more uncertain.
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