The Swift Fall From Grace for Kyle Larson

The sports world has been pretty barren territory across the globe of late thanks to COVID-19. Instead of seeing games and contests being battled on the field, pitch, court or octagon, things have fallen silent due to the ongoing pandemic. Athletes have been reduced to playing or practicing in isolation in hopes that things get back to normal soon. Fans have been reduced to watching hastily constructed tournaments like the H-O-R-S-E tournament or seeing athletes play video games, such as the NBA 2K Players Tournament or the current MLB The Show league involving actual MLB players representing their own teams.

Sometimes that isolation and technology combine to put together entertaining moments, like Patrick Beverley talking trash on the Xbox much as he would if he was on the floor with the rest of his Clippers teammates. On the flip side, sometimes things are said in the heat of the moment and it proves to be disastrous. There are times when things that are said online disappear into the ether and are completely forgotten about in a matter of days, if not sooner. Then there are those times where statements have far-reaching repercussions and ramifications in the proverbial real world. Kyle Larson learned that the hard way this week.

Larson, a NASCAR driver with Chip Ganassi Racing who has six victories on the circuit on his resume, found himself in hot water after he uttered a racial slur during an iRacing event that was streamed live. The reports state that Larson thought he had lost communication with his spotter and during a mic check to verify whether contact was working, said: “You can’t hear me?” followed by the racial slur. Unfortunately for Larson, he wasn’t only in contact with his spotter, but to the other drivers in the race, most of whom were shocked by the statement. Larson is half-Japanese and remains the lone driver of Japanese descent to win on the NASCAR circuit in the history of the sport. Neither of the facts in the previous sentence is any absolution for the poor lapse in judgment that he suffered in the heat of the moment.

The repercussions for Larson have been swift and harsh. He was originally suspended by Ganassi Racing on Monday for his outburst. That was followed by an indefinite suspension from the hands of NASCAR itself, taking him out of the equation with the mandate that he undergo sensitivity training as well. On the heels of both those suspensions came the dizzying renunciation of Larson driving the 42 car for Ganassi Racing as a slew of sponsors withdrew themselves unless something was done. Gone were McDonald’s. Fiserv and Credit One Bank in the blink of an eye. Facing the backlash from the public, the media and their sponsors, with the potential of having a team where there would be no sponsorship to help offset the costs involved, Chip Ganassi Racing was in the unenviable position of having to make a tough decision.

As it turned out, the team made the decision to fire Larson as a driver. In a statement, Chip Ganassi Racing had the following to say: “After much consideration, Chip Ganassi Racing has determined that it will end its relationship with driver Kyle Larson. 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."

The hits haven’t stopped coming for Larson in the aftermath of all that transpired. His personal services contract with Chevrolet went up in smoke. He was slated to be on the market for a new team as it stood after the season as this is the final year of his contract with Ganassi. That could have conceivably opened up a myriad of potential options and landing places for him to make a splash next season. Now, instead of having the option to stay where he was or move on to somewhere else, he’s scrambling to try and reinvent himself and his tarnished reputation. With his indefinite suspension, there’s no telling when he might be able to return to the racing circuit. For that matter, it’s uncertain as to when the circuit will get back to holding actual races on the asphalt.

Larson’s issues have even flared tempers in other sports and has brought plenty of vitriol to the surface. Marcus Stroman, a pitcher for the Mets, lost his temper after hearing about Larson’s outburst and immediately challenged him to a fight. Stroman has no problem giving his thoughts on any topic, and, as one can see from his Twitter, said that he’d fight Larson “post-career for charity” because “He needs his ass beat.” Stroman isn’t the only pro athlete lining up to say that they’d fight Larson as Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri, himself no stranger to controversy, put himself in line to get a shot on his Twitter.

It’s clear that Larson struck a nerve with his ill-advised and poorly thought out statement. Whether he thought his mic wasn’t working or not, whether he felt he was only speaking to his spotter instead of everyone in the race, not to mention the viewers on the stream, is irrelevant. The iRacing Series through NASCAR has blown away previous records for esports streaming views and the repercussions for a major mistake like that, as would be expected in something that hit the public eye in a hurry, came down like a ton of bricks. Whether he can rehabilitate himself and his image to get back to what he’s used to doing or not remains to be seen. It’s definitely going to be an uphill climb and his fall from grace is going to be a cautionary tale for future competitors to take notice of in order to avoid following a similar path to self-destruction.