IRacing, the world has been enamored by it and it has opened a lot of eyes. The realisticness of it has allowed a lot of racing fans to get as close of a first hand experience of driving a race car and racing against other individuals. It also played a huge role this past winter when Nascar teamed up with IRacing to create a mini series for Nascar. The first couple races went smoothly and there was the entrants of famous legendary drivers who had retired. Things were going smoothly until the Bubba Wallace rage quit at the Bristol race where he lost a sponsor who sponsored his team and that exact race (Blue Emu). This should've been a massive wake up call for all drivers involved with the online racing phenomenon.
The fact that the drivers were under a microscope while they were racing even on a game apparently didn't sink in until the infamous Kyle Larson incident. For those who don't know or remember, Kyle Larson said the "N" word while communicating with his crew chief in a different racing series online. Now, this happened when the person who was streaming it went to Larson's radio channel without his knowledge and well the end result was devastating for Larson. Kyle would be fired from Chip Ganassi Racing, lose all of his sponsors including Chevy, McDonalds, and more, Nascar made him take sensitivity training and suspended his license to compete in the series, and was forced to drop back down racing strictly dirt track racing. To say the least, Kyle was made an example of by Nascar because he dropped an offensive word on a private channel.
Fast forward to this past weekend where new Nascar Craftsman Truck hopeful Hailie Deegan went on a rant and made a similar mistake that Kyle had made. However, she used a different word and her punishment handed down so far has been being forced to apologize and to go to sensitivity training. What word did she use? Well, she used the "R" word and used it in a derogatory meaning.
So, here we are. Two situations where a derogatory word was used. One word is a description of a person's race and the other describes the mental capabilities of an individual. One was used in a joking matter in a private conversation with a crew chief while the other was used in a rant of anger to describe the displeasure with another driver. Both times are extremely regrettable and both drivers probably have wished that the situations had never happened. However, what's extremely interesting is how polar opposite the situations were handled and the fallout of how they were handled. Simply put Nascar has simply opened themselves up for some extreme scrutiny for their response on the most recent situation.
The major issue is that they inadvertently just made the statement that individuals with special needs are less important than people of color. Before you freak hear me out. The more severe punishment was handed out to an individual who was in a private conversation and not using the word in a negative way. Meanwhile, the other situation is basically handled with a shame on you for using the "R" word in a demeaning way in which is slams against that entire community. By the punishments handed out it clearly shows which community they feel is more important and which is less important.
The next issue with how they handled these situations is the conversation that the punishment to Deegan is significantly less due to her being a female. Nascar had no issues destroying the career of Kyle Larson who was quickly becoming the face of Nascar. Yet, here comes a new young female driver who has a major sponsorship which just happens to have been the former title sponsor for the main series and they simply slap her on the wrist. Nascar clearly showed that the playing field is not even for its workers and for its fans. If you're pretty, young, and have a huge sponsorship/money backing you then you can pretty much do no wrong and they will slap a rocket to you to get you to it's top series.
The final intriguing issue that Nascar brought upon itself is how the world is going to look at the racing world and its fans. Make no mistake about it, everyone involved with racing is getting judged one way or another by these situations. The main people getting looked at are the fans, which may be surprising to some but it's true. Let's break down the events that led to this moment in time.
Bubba Wallace rage quits and loses his sponsor:
There is a large group of fans stating that Bubba should've toughened up and quit his whining. In such they felt that Bubba deserved to lose his sponsor and felt that it was deserved.
Kyle Larson Drops the "N" Word:
The fans are openly split on the situation. Some feel that his punishment is deserved. Some feel that Nascar was only making an example of Larson to appease the PC atmosphere that is present in America and feel that it was too extreme. The rest feel mixed on the situation and feel that it could've been handled better.
Hailie Deegan Drops the "R" Word in Rant:
There are fans that have stated that everyone just needs to "toughen up". There are fans that have stated that the "R" word isn't as bad as the "N" word. Then there are some who feel that Deegan deserves the same punishment as Larson.
How the fans look at these situations paints an intriguing picture of the racing community as a whole. While everyone has their opinion, in todays day and age the racing community is often lumped into one group with a negative portrayal. What's really intriguing, is that all of this and the fallout from it comes from a highly evolved video game. So how will this most recent situation impact the racing community? Well we can only wait and see.
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