Kyle Larson was fired Tuesday by Chip Ganassi Racing, completing a stunning downfall for the budding NASCAR star who uttered a racial slur during a live-streamed virtual race and then watched nearly every one of his sponsors drop him.
“After much consideration, Chip Ganassi Racing has determined that it will end its relationship with driver Kyle Larson,” Ganassi said. “As we said before, the comments that Kyle made were both offensive and unacceptable especially given the values of our organization. As we continued to evaluate the situation with all the relevant parties, it became obvious that this was the only appropriate course of action to take.“
Everything fell apart as primary sponsors McDonalds and Credit One Bank pulled their funding. Chevrolet suspended its relationship with Larson, and all but one commercial partner denounced Larson’s comment and indicated they were walking away.
Larson apologized in a video posted on his social media accounts.
“I made a mistake, said the word that should never, ever be said,” Larson said. “There is no excuse for that. I wasn’t raised that way. It is 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.”
He also reached out to many sponsors and friends to apologize. Brent Powell, president of Plan B Sales and Marketing, was the only sponsor to remain behind Larson. He said the driver called him personally to “express his regret about what transpired.”
“We know he is an awesome young man that made a mistake and we are going to stand behind him 100% and help any way we can,” Powell said.