Kyle Larson fired by Chip Ganassi Racing after racial slur

Kyle Larson has lost his drive at Chip Ganassi Racing after being fired for using a racial slur during a virtual race.

The 27-year-old has spent almost his entire NASCAR Cup Series career with Chip Ganassi Racing but has been sacked after the team reviewed his position after using racist language during a simrace.

“After much consideration, Chip Ganassi Racing has determined that it will end its relationship with drier Kyle Larson,” a team statement read.

“As we said before, the comments that Kyle made were both offensive and unacceptable especially given the values of our organisation. As we continue to evaluate the situation with all the relevant parties, it became obviously that this was the only appropriate course of action to take.”

Larson has already been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR and on the iRacing platform which hosted the race when the incident took place. The team’s sponsors including McDonalds and Credit One had already ended their associations with him following the incident.

The six-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner has issued a public apology through his social media channels and says he has no excuse for the incident.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry,” he said. “Last night I made a mistake, said the word that should never, ever be said, and there’s no excuse for that. I wasn’t raised that way. It’s just an awful thing to say.

“I feel very sorry for my family my friends, my partners, the NASCAR community and especially the African-American community. I understand the damage is probably unrepairable. And I own up to that. I just wanted to let you know how sorry I all am.”

The incident occurred on Sunday night when Larson was competing in an iRacing event setup during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Larson lost communication with his spotter and during the exchange he said n*****. Larson was initially suspended by Chip Ganassi Racing on Monday pending the review and has also been suspended indefinitely by NASCAR officials.