Nearly one year ago, Kyle Larson was embroiled in an ugly situation stemming from his usage of a racial slur during a live iRacing event.
This slur not only brought a wave of backlash against Larson, and rightfully so, but it also cost him sponsors and then his job. Additionally, it led to a suspension from NASCAR that the 28 year old was unsure he would ever come back from.
Eventually, Larson worked his way back from suspension, earned a spot with a new team, and scored his first Cup Series win since October 2019 in Dover, by taking the checkered flag on Sunday at the Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas.
There’s no better place to answer a call from Rick Hendrick than victory lane! 🏆@KyleLarsonRacin | https://t.co/c8UD8QZ9FE pic.twitter.com/KlcGvjEwpX
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) March 8, 2021
Revisiting Last Year’s Controversy
In April 2020, Kyle Larson was competing in an iRacing event where he dropped the “n-word” and created a huge controversy for himself, Chip Ganassi Racing, and NASCAR.
Although Larson immediately apologized, the damage was already done. Major sponsors began pulling out like Credit One Bank, Clover and McDonalds.
Yet, that wasn’t the worst of the repercussions for Larson’s ignorant action. Chip Ganassi Racing decided to fire Larson after six years together:
“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.”
Chevy also publicly parted ways with Larson as they terminated their relationship with the rising star. Eventually, NASCAR suspended Larson indefinitely.
At the peak of the backlash, NASCAR’s only African American driver Bubba Wallace publicly supported his friend and peer:
“There is no place for that word in this world. I am not mad at him, and I believe that he, along with most people, deserve second chances and deserve space to improve.”
That’s exactly what Larson did. He fulfilled the stipulations of his suspension as Larson got a much needed “education” in the destructiveness behind that racial slur.
During his suspension, NASCAR betting sites released a prop bet asking if Larson would return to sport in 2020 or 2021. At the time, the “no” option was heavily favored at -600. Online betting sites didn’t think Larson would return to racing until at least 2022.
As others began to forgive Larson after seeing his efforts to learn from his disgusting mistake, NASCAR eventually forgave him as well and allowed the Elk Grove, California native to return to racing.
Larson Signs with Hendrick Motorsports
On October 19th, 2020, NASCAR reinstated Kyle Larson and made the following statement:
“Kyle Larson has fulfilled the requirements set by NASCAR, and has taken several voluntary measures, to better educate himself so that he can use his platform to help bridge the divide in our country. Larson’s indefinite suspension has been lifted. Under the terms of his reinstatement, he will be cleared to return to all NASCAR racing activities effective January 1, 2021.”
Roughly a week after returning to NASCAR, Larson officially signed a multiyear contract with one of the top teams in the sport – Hendrick Motorsports.
Team owner Rick Hendrick stated at the time that Larson is one of the most talented drivers in the world. He also talked about how the two have had many discussions throughout Larson’s suspension and that Kyle had done a lot of work to learn from his usage of the racial slur.
Larson was paired with crew chief Cliff Daniels and given the #5 car which Hendrick considers to be the most important number for his team.
Making the Most of a Second Chance
Heading into the Pennzoil 400, Larson was racing well on the season with a Top 10 spot in the standings and a 4th place result at Homestead-Miami.
Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a track where Larson had some success at in his career with an average finish of 10.8 and six Top 10s in nine career starts. Yet, he had never won at the track until Sunday.
Larson was the class of the field this past weekend as he led over 100 laps and consistently moved up to the front where he would eventually pull away.
Proud and happy for @KyleLarsonRacin
Told him way to keep his head thru it all! We all knew it was a matter of time..
Nice dub young money🤘🏾 https://t.co/7vRGpDEl3H
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) March 8, 2021
He was listed at +1000 odds to win the race. His past success at this track made him a solid choice to finish in the Top 5 and a virtual lock to crack the Top 10.
Larson would go on to win by more than three seconds over Brad Keselowski who went up to Kyle after the race to congratulate him.
Keselowski said to the media that “everyone loves a good redemption story.” He told Larson how happy he was for him despite wanting to get his 4th career win at Vegas.
Following the win, Kyle Larson said that he wasn’t sure that he would ever have an opportunity again to win in NASCAR. He thanked Rick Hendrick for believing in him and celebrated with the fans by doing several burnouts.
While in Victory Lane, Bubba Wallace came over to congratulate the race winner. Larson commented on that moment:
“It meant a lot to have Bubba come to Victory Lane. He always does a really good job of congratulating the winners. Yeah, I saw him waiting to say hi or whatever to me as I ran over there, and just had a quick moment with him. He said congrats. He’s always believed in me. So that was special.”
The victory gave Hendrick Motorsports consecutive wins on the season as William Byron won at Homestead-Miami on February 28th. It also moved Larson up in the standings to 3rd overall as he’s 40 points behind Denny Hamlin who leads the Cup Series.
With the win, Larson is virtually guaranteed a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs based on their format. In four races, Larson also has two Top 5s, three Top 10s, and a stage win. He’s 2nd in Playoff Points, four behind Denny Hamlin.
Rick Rockwell
As a longtime freelance writer, avid sports fan, former athlete, and experienced sports bettor, Rick Rockwell has risen up the ranks at GamblingSites.org to become the self-professed “King of the Blog” in his first year with the site. …
