NASCAR’s Kyle Larson Appears To Use Racial Slur During Livestream Event

NASCAR driver Kyle Larson appeared to use a racial slur during a virtual race Sunday night that was being livestreamed, according to video from the iRacing event.

Larson, who’s a driver for Chip Ganassi Racing and considered one of NASCAR’s youngest talents at age 27, was participating in a virtual race when he expressed difficulty communicating with the other players on his headset.

“You can’t hear me? Hey, n****r,” a voice, purportedly belonging to Larson, said.

A representative for Larson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. A spokesperson for Chip Ganassi Racing said to HuffPost Larson has been suspended from the team without pay.

“We are extremely disappointed by what Kyle said last night during an iRacing Event,” the spokesperson said. “The words that he chose to use are offensive and unacceptable. As of this moment we are suspending Kyle without pay while we work through this situation with all appropriate parties.”

NASCAR, in a statement to HuffPost, said it is reviewing what happened.

“NASCAR is aware of insensitive language used by a driver during an iRacing event on Sunday, and is currently gathering more information,” a spokesperson said.

Larson grew up in northern California and is half Japanese, with his mother’s parents having spent time in an internment camp during World War II. He was accepted into NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program and graduated in 2012.

Racecar drivers have been using the iRacing gaming platform to race against one another virtually as NASCAR postpones race events amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A spokesperson for iRacing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.