NASCAR driver Hailie Deegan found herself in a bit of a firestorm recently after she was overheard using a term that disparages those with intellectual disabilities during an iRacing event – a popular virtual racing series. The 19-year-old Ford Racing Development driver and soon-to-be NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor issued a swift apology afterward via Twitter.
Earlier tonight I used an insensitive word during an online race being broadcast on twitch. It was inappropriate slang and a stupid thing to do. I apologize to everyone who was offended by it. There’s no excuse for it, and I know I have to do better for my sponsors and my fans.
— Hailie Deegan (@HailieDeegan) January 11, 2021
“Earlier tonight I used an insensitive word during an online race being broadcast on Twitch,” Deegan said. “It was inappropriate slang and a stupid thing to do. I apologize to everyone who was offended by it. There’s no excuse for it, and I know I have to do better for my sponsors and my fans.”
“We are aware of this inappropriate comment. Hailie immediately acknowledged this mistake, has apologized, and promised to be much more thoughtful in the future,” Ford Performance said in a statement.
As a result of this incident, NASCAR has also announced that Deegan will be required to take sensitivity training prior to the start of the 2021 season. The Twitch stream has since been deleted from her personal stream.
Hailie Deegan, the daughter of Motocross and X Games icon Brian Deegan, is a three-time winner in what is now called the ARCA Menards Series West and was the first female driver to ever win races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. Deegan grew up competing in off-road racing but made the switch to stock car racing in 2016.
Deegan made her series debut with David Gilliland Racing last October at Kansas Speedway driving the number 17 Ford F-150. Now, she’s set to compete in her first season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series when it kicks off February 12th for the NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
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Comments
Retard refers to people who are ignorant. It does not have any connection to people with disabilities. PC controls our world thanks to the left.
Yet another perfect example of political correctness running amok in our country. :-[
Sensitivity training is the new pc for re-education camp.
Exercise of Free Speech (see 1st Amendment) doesn’t require sensitivity training. She can say what she wants & pi$$ on politically correct RETARDS & NASCAR! That ‘sensitive’ enough for y’all?
Just wondering what Dale Earnhardt (Sr) or AJ Foyt would say if they were told they had to take sensitivity training for a comment they made during a race!
One more reason not to watch nascar
It’s okay non one really watches nascar anymore any way, so no bug lost, we as a club even stopped our nascar contest that we played every week.
Yall got that rite my fellow lefttards – yeehaww !!! Chump 2024 !!! First they stole the election now this !!! I thought this was america !! Time to gather up the guns and storm the capital …again . Goshdang leftards how stupid are we ?? Pretty dang dumb and proud of it .Chump 2024 ( unless Chump is in prison )
Welcome to the brave new world of the Left Wing Democratic Party.
Congratulations Nascar. Perhaps you didn’t get the memo that they want to eliminate fossil fuel (Gasoline).
Hope your sensitivity helps you when they ban Stock Car racing.
When Kyle Larson made a mistake he was kicked out for a year
We need to be careful about what we call ‘HER’. As a gender neutral society this will be offensive to the fruits and nuts taking over America.
I think people in the United States need training on how not to be so sensitive.
This young lady will have to learn that EVERYTHING she says, writes and does will be seen by many and as such she must control herself better. The price of being in the big leagues.
The only way to win is to not play.
Well in today’s world people make a big thing out of everything that people say. People use slang words all the time it is everyday life and for most people nothing bad is meant by these words. Certain people just sit and wait to hear something they do not like just to make a big deal out of it. When I was growing up at least one of my friends everyday would call me a retard and it meant nothing to me it was just the way we communicated with each other.