By Lauren Gudknecht
Assistant Sports Editor

On Sunday April 12, Chip Ganassi Racing terminated their connection with NASCAR driver Kyle Larson, who used the n-word during a virtual event that evening. On Monday April 13, NASCAR officially suspended Larson due to his actions. 

According to CNN News, the Chip Ganassi Racing stated, “As we said before, the comments that Kyle made were both offensive and unacceptable, especially given the values of our organization,” said Chip Ganassi Racing, according to CNN News.

The race occured on the gaming platform called Twitch, where Larson was recorded using the slur during the live streamed iRacing tournament. It was announced that he seemed to have lost communication and said “I can’t see it. You can’t hear me? Hey n—-r.” 

Another player that was involved in the tournament said to him, “Kyle, you’re talking to everyone, bud.”  

Chip Ganassi Racing stated, “NASCAR has made diversity and inclusion a priority and will not tolerate the type of language used by Kyle Larson during Sunday’s iRacing event.” 

Larson later posted a video on Twitter, apologizing for his wrongful actions and saying he was sorry to his family and friends. He also apologized to the NASCAR partners and to the African American community. 

“Last night, I made a mistake and said a word that should never, ever be said, and there’s no excuse for that,” Larson said. 

Kyle Larson has lost several sponsors, including McDonald’s and Credit One Bank.