Kyle Larson: How to Blow Up a Promising Career with One Word

by Julian Spivey
NASCAR driver Kyle Larson was one of the sport’s shining stars just three days ago with the 27-year old six-time winner in the Cup Series being the most sought after free agent at season’s end. It was very likely he’d receive a major contract from Hendrick Motorsports to replace seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 Chevrolet. Then on Sunday night during a live streaming iRacing event, which many NASCAR drivers have spent their time doing during the season hiatus due to Covid-19, Larson said the “N-word” on a hot microphone unaware he could be heard by everyone both competing in and watching the event on Twitch.
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Within 24 hours of his use of the racist slur Larson had issued an apology on his social media pages, but the damage to his career was already starting to be felt. Chip Ganassi Racing, his race team in the NASCAR Cup Series, suspended indefinitely without pay. NASCAR then suspended Larson indefinitely from competition with the announcement he would have to complete sensitivity training before a possible reinstatement. Chevrolet, the manufacturer that supplies cars for Chip Ganassi Racing, dropped him. All of his major sponsors – McDonald’s, Credit One Bank and Fiserv – also dropped him.

On Tuesday, April 14, less than 36 hours after his use of the racist slur, Chip Ganassi Racing had decided to fire Larson instead of the indefinite suspension. Truthfully, the team’s hand had been forced by Chevrolet and all of Larson’s sponsors dropping him. There was simply no room for him at the race team.

And, despite how many of NASCAR’s fans feel about Larson’s suspension, loss of sponsorship and ultimate termination after seeing numerous tweets about how it was an overreaction to Larson’s “mistake,” there’s only one person to blame for all of this – Kyle Larson.

Larson used a word that shouldn’t be used by any circumstances and it’s something he’s going to have to deal with. If you think it’s an overreaction to be dropped by his sponsors, I ask you, “would you want your company to back somebody who casually drops a racial slur?” If you would be OK with that, it probably says a good deal about you as a person. For those saying it was an overreaction on the part of Chip Ganassi Racing to terminate him I ask, “have you ever watched the sport of NASCAR?” Because if so, you know it’s nearly impossible for a team to field a driver who’s lost his entire sponsorship and completely impossible to put that driver in your car when the manufacturer of your team has dropped him.

There was nothing else that could be done here. Larson used a word that he shouldn’t have and there were consequences to it. No one is at fault but him. The fact that so many fans of the sport – a sport I have loved for two decades (the majority of my life) – are making excuses for Larson or trying to pass this off as if it’s no big deal are making a sport that already has to deal with many negative stereotypes (some that aren’t true and some that we’re now seeing are, in fact, true) look incredibly ignorant.

NASCAR and Chip Ganassi Racing did everything right in reacting to Larson’s action, but many are simply going to see that a driver used the “N-word” and many of its fans didn’t seem to view that as an issue. That’s damning for this sport.

I don’t know whether or not Larson is a racist. Only he would know that. But I do know he’s an ignorant young man – anybody who would drop that word so casually in conversation is at best ignorant. Should this be a career killer? No. And in any other sport it probably wouldn’t be. I can’t recall anyone using racial slurs recently in any other sport, but homophobic slurs used by players have often resulted in about two game suspensions from sports leagues. In 2013, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Jeremy Clements used the same slur Larson did and was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR and forced to undergo sensitivity training. He missed two races as the sensitivity training program last roughly two-to-four weeks. But Clements competed for (and still does) his own family owned team without major sponsors. This is likely the same scenario Larson would’ve faced without his sponsors backing out on him. But, again, why would a major company like McDonald’s or Credit One Bank want to stand by a person who casually drops racial slurs?

Larson was one of NASCAR’s brightest young talents and had a long career ahead of him if he wanted it. Will he ever compete in the motorsports series again? Maybe. But I don’t really see a major team or sponsor stepping forward to claim him after this.   

Larson made waves within the NASCAR community earlier this year after winning the coveted dirt track Chili Bowl Nationals when he said, “For me, the Chili Bowl is bigger than the Daytona 500.” It was just one of a few moments in his career where he seemed to show more passion for dirt track racing than competing on motorsports biggest stage. Well, now Larson has all the time in the world for the dirt tracks. He also serves as a great lesson for young athletes everywhere, but particularly in the sport of NASCAR.  

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