Kyle Larson is officially a free agent, but it happened a bit sooner than he expected. His team, Chip Ganassi Racing, announced Tuesday morning that it fired the 27-year-old NASCAR driver, who was caught saying the N-word during a virtual iRacing event Sunday.
With the NASCAR season postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak, the motor sports world significantly shifted toward online racing. Larson was competing in a simulation racing event when he used the racial slur over the radio, which was broadcast on Twitch and heard by anyone on the livestream. It then quickly spread around the internet.
On Monday, Ganassi suspended Larson without pay, and NASCAR suspended him indefinitely with the requirement that he participate in sensitivity training. And by that afternoon, Larson — once largely considered the most highly coveted upcoming free agent — was losing big-time sponsors, which all but guaranteed he’d be out of a job if he couldn’t replace them.
In a statement released Tuesday, CGR said:
“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.”
Statement regarding Kyle Larson: pic.twitter.com/5Q06Dhst8V
— Chip Ganassi Racing (@CGRTeams) April 14, 2020
During the iRacing event Sunday, Larson appeared to have technical difficulties communicating and said: “You can’t hear me? Hey, [expletive].”
Several drivers in the stream confirmed they heard what Larson said, with second-tier XFINITY Series driver Anthony Alfredo noting: “Kyle, you’re talking to everyone, bud.”
Larson was in the final year of his contract with Ganassi, and going into the 2020 season, it seemed like he’d have several appealing options among NASCAR’s best teams from which to choose. Although he almost certainly won’t have as many choices, Larson could still find sponsors and a good team willing to overlook his behavior.
But Monday afternoon, less than 24 hours after Larson using a racist slur began circulating around the internet, McDonald’s and Credit One Bank both announced they ended their sponsorships of Larson but implied they’d be willing to work with Ganassi with another driver.
Chevrolet also announced it indefinitely suspended its relationship with Larson.
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) April 13, 2020
In a video tweeted Monday, Larson apologized for his racist language — although he, along with NASCAR, CGR and iRacing, declined to label it as such. Larson said:
“I made a mistake and said the word that should never, ever be said, and there’s no excuse for that. I wasn’t raised that way. It’s just an awful thing to say, and I feel very sorry for my family, my friends, my partners, the NASCAR community and, especially, the African-American community. I understand the damage is probably unrepairable, and I own up to that. But I just wanted to let you all know how sorry I am.”
With the NASCAR season on hold, it’s unclear for how long the governing body will keep Larson suspended and how many races he could miss.
Larson was in what was his seventh full-time NASCAR Cup Series season, has six career wins and was the series’ 2014 Rookie of the Year.
[jwplayer JC9xAsp7-q2aasYxh]
[vertical-gallery id=910363]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393221]