Three weeks after Kyle Larson was fired by his NASCAR team, Chip Ganassi Racing, for using a racist slur, the 27-year-old driver is returning to the race track.
Larson will compete Friday in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa, NBC Sports reported Tuesday. It will be the sprint car series’ first race since early February with several events on the schedule being postponed or canceled because of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Without real-life racing, drivers moved online to the virtual iRacing world. And during a virtual event on Sunday, April 12, Larson used the N-word on his radio, and it was heard by not only those competing but also by fans watching the livestream.
By Monday after the clip made its way around the internet, both NASCAR and Ganassi suspended Larson indefinitely, and after Larson’s sponsors ended their relationships with him, the team announced Tuesday that it fired him.
On April 27, news broke that 48-year-old veteran Matt Kenseth is replacing Larson in the No. 42 Chevrolet for the rest of the Cup Series season, which plans to resume competition (without fans) at Darlington Raceway on May 17.
Since sharing a video apology the day after using the slur, Larson has not posted anything to his Twitter or Instagram pages about the incident or anything else.
Additionally, NASCAR is also requiring Larson to complete sensitivity training before returning. NASCAR told For The Win that the organization doesn’t comment on the sensitivity training process when a driver is in it and will confirm the person’s completion of it when the driver has been reinstated.
The World of Outlaws said in a statement last month that Larson — who loves dirt track racing and is also a sprint car team owner and multi-race winner — would be able to return to racing after finishing “a sensitivity training course within 30 days of the date of the infraction.” And the series said he fufilled those retirements “to our satisfaction,” RACER‘s Kelly Crandall reported Tuesday.
Tuesday, the World of Outlaws also announced 16 sprint car and late model races through mid-June, starting with Friday’s race at Knoxville. Although spectators are not allowed yet, fans can stream it via DIRTVision.
[jwplayer ZAuoCP2S-q2aasYxh]
[vertical-gallery id=900842]
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=421393221]