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Both NASCAR and Legacy Motor Club have suspended Cup Series driver Noah Gragson for liking a racially insensitive post on Instagram.
Xfinity Series driver Josh Berry will drive the #42 car this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. The league has said this is an indefinite suspension and under past precedent will require Gragson to undergo sensitivity training.
“NASCAR fully supports Legacy Motor Club’s decision to suspend Noah Gragson. Following his actions on social media, NASCAR has determined that Gragson has violated the Member Conduct section of the 2023 NASCAR Rule Book and has placed him under indefinite suspension.”
Gragson was first suspended by the team on Saturday morning.
“We have made the decision to suspend Noah Gragson effective immediately regarding his actions that do not represent the values of our team. Josh Berry will drive the #42 entry for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan.”
Gragson liked a post on Instagram depicting the Disney movie character Sebastian the crab from the Little Mermaid but with the late George Floyd’s face photoshopped on the character. Instead of ‘under the sea,’ the meme said ‘under the knee’ a reference to how Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, 2020.
Floyd was killed when Derek Chauvin, one of the four police officers who arrived on the scene of a petty theft allegation, knelt on his neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds which ultimately suffocated him. The incident ignited a series of protests around the United States in the months that followed spotlighting racial injustice and police brutality.
Gragson issued an apology over social media.
I am disappointed in myself for my lack of attention and actions on social media.
I understand the severity of this situation.
I love and appreciate everyone.
I try to treat everyone equally no matter who they are. I messed up plain and simple. https://t.co/PCX6iMJxRF— Noah Gragson (@NoahGragson) August 5, 2023
Gragson is in his first full-time season at the Cup Series level and is 33rd in the championship standings.
