NASCAR driver Noah Gragson was suspended indefinitely, first by his race team and later by NASCAR itself, after it was learned the driver “liked” a meme from an Instagram account making light of the 2020 death of George Floyd while in police custody. A screenshot showing the image, which depicted George Floyd’s face photoshopped onto the crab character from “The Little Mermaid” adorned with the Instagram notation of Gragson’s “like” circulated around on Friday. On Saturday, right before the on-track activity was set to begin, it was announced that Gragson had been indefinitely suspended first by his team and later by NASCAR.
Understandably, this created a massive shockwave of reaction across social media, with some debating whether or not a penalty of this magnitude was warranted. Additionally, I want to preface this article by saying I do not condone Noah’s actions, yet I think we need to take a look at why the penalty seems so severe.
The first news to break was from Gragson’s team Legacy Motor Club. They announced that he was suspended indefinitely from the team due to “actions that do not represent the values of [the] team”. This was followed by an apology from Gragson and lastly, NASCAR announced an indefinite suspension of their own.
This isn’t the first instance of stuff like this coming from drivers. Just last year Denny Hamlin posted a meme of a Family Guy clip poking at the stereotype that Asians can’t drive in response to Kyle Larson wrecking both 23XI cars on the last lap at Talladega. Hamlin was called out and subsequently was ordered to complete sensitivity training.
Kyle Busch and Hailie Deegan both used the slur, “retarded” within months of one another and were relegated to sensitivity training as well.
We’ve also seen drivers suspended for online interactions, most notably Kyle Larson’s use of the n-word during an online broadcast of an iRacing session in 2020. He was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR and dropped by his team and all his sponsors. He was instructed to complete sensitivity training as well and was reinstated in 2021, driving for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup series.
Josh Reaume was suspended in late 2020 for uploading an image of a toaster strudel bearing a swastika to his Twitter. Mike Wallace was suspended in 2020 as well for a series of Facebook posts. Both completed sensitivity training and returned to competition in the sport.
So in terms of Gragson, his career won’t come to an end because of this poor judgment call. He’s been rumored to be on the hot seat after an abysmal rookie campaign thus far, and this will certainly not do him any favors.
Gragson’s situation is unique though as he’s been indefinitely suspended by his team but not released. Sponsors rely on a positive image from their representatives. Like we saw with Kyle Larson, as soon as the inexcusable language he used could be positioned next to brands like Credit One or McDonald’s, the sponsors understandably dipped. It needs to be remembered that the image in question wasn’t a “classic” stereotype or potential misunderstanding of an edgy joke…but a tasteless attempt at comedy regarding someone’s death.
Brandon Brown was in a sponsorship-driven situation as well just after winning his first career race at Talladega. The difference here is that the situation originally presented wasn’t Brandon’s fault, as the rowdy crowd and a good-faith attempt by the reporter to save the situation had gone wrong, resulting in a butterfly effect that can be felt in the literal White House with the United States President to this day. When the negatively-charged political message became synonymous with Brown, and after a controversial attempt involving a Cryptocurrency sponsorship, other sponsors became reluctant to sign on.
NASCAR, and racing as a whole, is rooted in the sponsors. Without them, cars don’t make it on track. So when the image of a sponsor can be jeopardized by a driver’s actions, they can and will step in, as we saw with LMC and Gragson.
While it boils down to the team’s and NASCAR’s discretion, I feel like the punishment here may not fit the crime in the sense of the suspension being indefinite.
Originally, I believed a suspension of any sort was outright ridiculous, but after doing some more research and seeing some other opinions on the matter, I’ve begun to realize that possibly the suspension was necessary, seeing as Gragson has been involved in some drama in the past, including an incident in 2018 where he made an unwanted advance on a trophy girl after winning that year’s Snowball Derby.
Perhaps seeing as this isn’t the first time Gragson has been shrouded in controversy outside of NASCAR, the punishment is harsher than it would be otherwise. If it were up to me, I would have placed the suspension at a definite number to show the severity of the issue and allow Gragson to improve himself for the rest of the season.
Another topic that had been brought up in this situation was the increasing rumors that Gragson would be out from the team following the season as LMC moves to Toyotas beginning in 2024. This incident could serve as the team’s advantageous opportunity to end their contract with Gragson early and free up a seat for a Toyota prospect next year.
While the situation is frustrating for all parties involved, it will hopefully be a sobering experience for Gragson and a lesson to the rest of the garage to be careful online, and serve as a reminder that digital footprints can have a lasting effect on one’s career.
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