I’ve started this blog about 15 times and keep running down a rathole of details regarding the tragic and cautionary tale of Kyle Larson but need to get this out of my head. So I’m going to cut to the chase here.
Let me open by saying I like Kyle Larson, have nothing against this kid, thinks he has great talent, and was thrilled for him when he won the Chili Bowl this year. This is not a vendetta blog.
Kyle Larson
But when you have sponsors, you have obligations. Contractual obligations. Things called “morals clauses” where if you basically do something that they think is offensive, they can terminate you. These clauses are intentionally vague because they are meant to be catch-alls – you can’t predict what someone will do that could damage your brand, so the legal types (of which I’m one) intentionally make these broad.
I’ve also been on the other side of the table as a professional racer with sponsors. Those contracts had these same morals clauses. As part of my roles with these sponsors, I was media-trained, as I’m sure Larson has been. There are some rules in media training.
Rule #1: THE MICROPHONE IS ALWAYS ON.
Kyle Larson broke rule #1, and when he did has, at least for the foreseeable future, flushed his future down the morals clause drain.
Sponsors as a rule don’t like controversy. They especially don’t like lightning rod, racial controversy. Larson ran his kite and key straight up into the air. The sad thing is I don’t think Kyle meant it maliciously. We all joke with each other privately and call each other off-color names, at least in the racing world I know. Perhaps that’s an inside joke with him. It’s a bad one if it is, because it builds this habit of thinking it’s okay to say.
And perhaps the susceptibility here was that this is a GAME. Played among his friends. One he’d played likely hundreds of times before, but not with TV coverage, with live streaming to record audiences. And so his guard wasn’t up. He was in his home, with his buds, talking smack.
Rule #1: THE MICROPHONE IS ALWAYS ON
With his offhand remark, he inadvertently but very effectively threw the morals clause switch and watched the lights go out: Chevy, Capital One, McDonalds, Ganassi, NASCAR, iRacing. Even the World of Outlaws are requiring him to go to sensitivity training.
The danger here is that the racing bench is deep. He isn’t an Earnhardt or an A. Rod or a LeBron or another franchise player who might be forgiven for one-time faux pas. Larson has not been stellar since coming into Cup. And many talented drivers are waiting in the wings for a chance at a premium ride like he just lost. Chastain comes quickly to mind. Hell, Sadler, Smith or Kligerman. Or, ironically, someone like a Timmy Hill, Garrett Smithley or Ty Majeski, lesser knowns who have been shining brightly in the iRacing spotlight.
If you’ve been in this industry, you know it’s cutthroat. A hundred, a thousand talented dancers waiting for the 40 musical chairs. And for now, the NASCAR music for Larson is over.
