NASCAR had an unfortunate setback in April when six-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Kyle Larson was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing and lost major sponsorships after using the N-word during a livestreamed virtual race. Larson, who is half-Japanese, was a graduate of NASCAR Drive for Diversity. “I’ve spoken to Kyle Larson a lot through the years. Very good race car driver,” Daugherty said. “But I’m very disappointed, as many are … and he is paying a heavy price for it. … “It made it really tough because it set the sport back. A sport that has already struggled to try to pull itself up in diversification efforts. It set us back another decade, too. He seems to be very contrite and learned an incredible and very expensive lesson, if anything.”