NASCAR is investigating an incident in which Cup Series driver Kyle Larson used a highly offensive racial slur during a live-stream broadcast of a virtual race on Sunday evening.
Chip Ganassi Racing driver Larson was competing in an iRacing event at Monza featuring more than 60 entries, which was put together by fellow NASCAR racers Landon Cassill and Garrett Smithley.
Larson, a graduate of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity, appeared to lose communication on his headset with his spotter during the pre-race practice session.
The 27-year-old was broadcasting his participation on his Twitch live stream and during a check of his microphone, he said, “You can’t hear me?”
That was followed by, “Hey …” and the N-word.
NASCAR issued the following statement on Monday morning: “NASCAR is aware of insensitive language used by a driver during an iRacing event on Sunday, and is currently gathering more information.”
Larson has won six times in his Cup series career, and managed a best finish of sixth in points last season.
In 2013, NASCAR indefinitely suspended driver Jeremy Clements for using a racial slur in an interview.
He ended up missing two races and took part in diversity training before being reinstated, and now competes in the second-tier Xfinity Series.
The controversy surrounding Larson comes one week after driver Bubba Wallace lost a sponsor for abruptly quitting an official NASCAR virtual racing event that was televised live nationally.
He had been involved in three accidents in the first 12 laps of the 150-lap event and had already used up his two resets.