NASCAR: How Kyle Larson’s situation compares to another major scandal

A NASCAR driver near the top of his field has to set his career back because of an unforgivable scandal. Where have we heard this before?

But, unlike history, the most recent case could be much worse and last a lot longer. The situation surrounding Kyle Larson is one that NASCAR hasn’t seen before in the modern era. But there is one scandal that might be an indicator for what Larson might be in for.

That scandal is Spingate, in which Clint Bowyer allegedly intentionally spun himself out to get teammate Martin Truex Jr. into the 2013 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup.

The controversy divided the fanbase through both NASCAR’s response and Bowyer’s role in all of it. But I don’t think anybody could have predicted Bowyer’s future.

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Bowyer stayed with Michael Waltrip Racing until their inevitable closure in 2015. Many wondered if this was it for him. Would he be relegated to bottom feeder teams for the rest of his career?

That theory would be proven wrong. While he did spend the 2016 season driving for HScott Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing had already signed him to the #14 team to replace a retiring Tony Stewart following the 2016 season. Just one season with HScott Motorsports was all Bowyer needed.

The 2016 season turned out as expected. Bowyer recorded just three top 10 finishes and 10 top 20 results, definitely not a good season by his standards.

But in each of the three full seasons in which Bowyer has been with Stewart-Haas Racing thus far, he has recorded at least 13 top 10 finishes. He has won two races and secured two playoffs berths as well. I’d say he has fully redeemed himself from 2013.

How does Spingate compare to Larson’s offensive comments? It doesn’t, but the fallout could be something like Bowyer’s, except longer and way harder.

It didn’t take long for sponsors such as Credit One Bank, McDonald’s and even Chevrolet to cut ties with Larson. For Bowyer, 5 Hour Energy stayed with him even when he went to HScott Motorsports.

And it certainly didn’t take long for Larson to be fired by Chip Ganassi Racing. He is in for a rocky road for the next two or three or possible more years. He’ll need to spend every waking moment trying to repair all of his relationships with friends and executives within the auto racing community and the business community if he ever wants to appeal to big-time sponsors again.

Like all major controversies, this will, for the most part, pass over. But Kyle Larson’s NASCAR future rests in his hands. It depends solely on how Kyle Larson handles the current situation moving forward, no matter how many people are willing to forgive him.