NASCAR driver Kyle Larson was fired Tuesday by Chip Ganassi Racing. It came a day after almost all of his sponsors dropped him for using a racial slur during a live stream of a virtual race.
Larson was in his seventh Cup season with Ganassi and considered the top free agent in NASCAR. Now he is out of a job reportedly losing upwards of eight-figures.
“After much consideration, Chip Ganassi Racing has determined that it will end its relationship with driver Kyle Larson,” Ganassi said. “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.“
The 27-year-old driver was entering free agency for the first time in his short career. Ganassi was expected to find himself in a bidding war to keep the sprint car driver he developed into one a future star.
Run It Back
On Sunday night, Larson was competing in one of the iRacing virtual events. Drivers are playing during the sports stoppage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Larson appeared to lose communication on his headset with his spotter.
During a check of his microphone, he asked his spotter, “You can’t hear me?” That was followed by the N-word. The slur from Larson was directed at his spotter, who is white.
Larson reportedly is white and Japanese, however, he is American.
He was suspended without pay by Ganassi early Monday, then suspended indefinitely by NASCAR. He was also ordered to complete sensitivity training.
However, primary sponsors McDonald’s and Credit One Bank pulled their funding from Larson. Chevrolet suspended its relationship with him, and all but one commercial partner denounced Larson’s comment and indicated they were ending their relationship.
