The NASCAR star will be on the search for a new ride
NASCAR is currently postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. In the meantime, drivers and the sanction itself have turned to the digital racing platform, iRacing.
On Sunday night, the official eNASCAR race had an off-weekend. However, Landon Cassill decided to put on an event of his own on the Monza oval.
You can watch the full video and Kyle Larson transcript of the events that took place in the link directly below.
Related: NASCAR driver Kyle Larson drops N-word (Video)
Early in the iRacing event, NASCAR Cup Series driver Larson was having mic issues. He was likely trying to reach his spotter via a private channel. However, he was instead speaking over a public channel.
The 27-year-old dropped the n-word on a public channel, while attempting to reach his personal spotter. And his world has been flipped upside down quickly.
On Monday, Larson was first suspended by his Chip Ganassi Racing team. Later in the day, he was also suspended by NASCAR with the requirement to attend sensitivity training.
Related: NASCAR penalizes Kyle Larson
Soon after, Larson issued an apology video from quarantine. He took fault in the use of the word. Larson stated, “I understand the damage is probably un-repairable, I own up to that.”
Related: Kyle Larson apologizes
Kyle Larson’s sponsors react
Sponsors quickly began to issues statement and/or pull the plug on their partnership with California native Kyle Larson.
Credit One Bank, McDonalds, Advent Health, Fiserv (Clover) and Chevrolet all issued statements since Kyle Larson used the slur in iRacing.
Several of those, including McDonalds and Chevrolet, elected to terminate their deal with Kyle Larson.
In most of these cases, the sponsors still elected to stay with Chip Ganassi Racing. Those sponsors fund the majority of their race team. In other words, Chip Ganassi was forced to find a new driver.
Related: Kyle Larson abandoned by NASCAR sponsors
Kyle Larson fired by Chip Ganassi Racing
On Tuesday, Chip Ganassi Racing took it one step further. They have fired their driver.
“After much consideration, Chip Ganassi Racing has determined that it will end its relationship with driver Kyle Larson,” the team statement read.
“As we said before, the comments that Kyle made were both offensive and unacceptable especially given the values of our organization. As we continue to evaluate the situation with all the relevant parties, it became obvious that that this was the only appropriate course of action to take.”
What does Kyle Larson do?
In this case, the coronavirus works in Larson’s favor. NASCAR isn’t set to return until at-least, mid May. There’s a chance it’s longer than that. The driver has several weeks to find a new ride.
Additionally, there’s a chance the suspension is lifted before NASCAR’s return. The sanction did not specify any length of time in the suspension terms. However, he is required to complete the sensitivity class.
There’s a chance both of those are cleared before NASCAR returns.
However, his options are very limited for rides. Chevrolet elected to terminate their deal with Larson. That’s going to make it difficult to find a ride within a Chevrolet NASCAR team.
Tony Stewart of Stewart-Haas Racing has continually expressed interest in Larson over the years. Additionally, Toyota has expressed regret in losing Larson once he reach the up level.
At the same point, most of the seats have already been filled for 2020. Certainly, all the good ones have. That will add to the struggles.
We may not see Larson back in a full-time ride until 2021. However, he still has a self-owned dirt racing team to go racing with.
This is an unprecedented situation for one the favorite racing drivers in the world, all stemming from a video game.
More
Kyle Larson releases video apology
Kyle Larson suspended by Chip Ganassi Racing following slur on iRacing game
NASCAR History: Racial slurs of the past amid Kyle Larson’s comment
NASCAR driver Kyle Larson drops N-word (Video)
Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez wreck each other under caution at Bristol Motor Speedway
Bubba Wallace loses real-world NASCAR sponsorship after rage quitting iRacing event (Video)
NASCAR announces online racing series during postponement
Kyle Larson had plans to test a Scott Bloomquist dirt late model
Links
Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Credit One Bank | McDonalds | Advent Health | Fiserv | Chevrolet | NASCAR | eNASCAR | iRacing
