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NASCAR driver Kyle Larson is some hot water if he appeared to use a racial slur during a live stream of Sunday’s iRacing Pro Series event.
In the video posted on social media, Larson doesn’t realize he was live on-air during the online simulation race and blurted out “You can’t hear me? Hey, n******.” to the shock of the others on the stream.
yeah uh pic.twitter.com/BBH7bRcIu8
— Davin (@DriveThrough_) April 13, 2020
While NASCAR has yet to respond to the clip, fans and journalists immediately blasted Larson for using the N-word on stream.
After decades of NASCAR trying to break the redneck stereotype…. Kyle Larson says the N word today over iRacing stream. Pathetic.
May become the first driver to lose their job via a video game. #ByeByeSponsors
— Vanessa Richardson (@SportsVanessa) April 13, 2020
Jeremy Clements was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for using that word in a non broadcasted conversation to a reporter
Hell, Conor Daly lost sponsorship (which was BS by the way) when a second hand story came out about his dad using the word
My point: Kyle Larson is screwed.
— Nick Yeoman (@NYeoman) April 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/Kim661_/status/1249539587602436096
I’ll be damned. I thought all those dudes calling me a n-word on Xbox live were moron preteens but turns out it was Kyle Larson the whole time. https://t.co/FGWa7PYKg6
— robertklemko (@RobertKlemko) April 13, 2020
Kyle Larson might be losing some sponsors come Monday morning. https://t.co/WFyIZaRwWK
— Halorallymonkey (@SeanCGoulding) April 13, 2020
I think one of the worst parts about the Kyle Larson situation is that it reinforces stereotypes about the sport. People associate NASCAR with rednecks and rednecks with racism.
Larson’s slur reinforces an image that NASCAR has worked so hard to get rid of.#NASCAR
— Jake Holley (@JakeHolleyMedia) April 13, 2020
This is gonna be a hard one to stomach NASCAR fans. Extremely frustrated with Kyle Larson.
This is why fans can't have nice things. Some drivers are too stupid to speak without a script, as a result everyone is watered down. pic.twitter.com/BtBpByZbHO
— Eric Estepp (@EricEstepp17) April 13, 2020