NASCAR reinstated champion driver Kyle Larson Monday six months after his suspension for using the N word.
Reuters reports the Japanese American will be allowed to return on January 1. He will be required to participate in speaking engagements through 2023 and must continue to attend training classes.
“The work I’ve done over the last six months has had a major impact on me. I will make the most of this opportunity and look forward to the future,” Larson said to NBC Sports.
NASCAR says the six time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series has done everything expected of him during his suspension.
“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,” Reuters reported NASCAR said in a statement. “Larson’s indefinite suspension has been lifted.”
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The driver says he’s learned numerous lessons during his forced hiatus.
“The first lesson: The N-word is not mine to use. It cannot be part of my vocabulary. The history of the word is connected to slavery, injustice and trauma that is deep and has gone on for far too long,” he wrote in October, according to NBC.
Larson said he had used the word casually on what he thought was a private communication channel and incorrectly thought that was OK.
“My parents are an interracial couple who have gotten disapproving stares and been made to feel uncomfortable just for being together. And all of a sudden, they were being asked why their 27-year-old Asian American son said something racist. My maternal grandparents were held in an internment camp during World War II. There’s absolutely no excuse for my ignorance.”
His comeback trail is not complete. Numerous sponsors dumped him and the Chip Ganassi Racing team fired him. It’s not known at this time who he will race with.
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