Bubba Wallace condemns Larson's use of slur but calls apology 'sincere'

African-American NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace condemned fellow driver Kyle Larson's use of a racial slur during Sunday's iRacing event in a statement posted to his Twitter account on Thursday.

While Wallace did express his anger at Larson - who was caught on headset uttering the N-word after briefly losing communication - he also accepted the personal apology he received the following day.

"What Larson said was wrong, whether in private or public. There is no grey area," Wallace wrote.

"I saw the incident the night it happened and within five minutes Kyle texted me. He called me the next morning as well. Finally, I called him back with a FaceTime to talk 'face to face,' and we had a good conversation, his apology was sincere. His emotions and pride were shattered."

Wallace added: "I told him, it was too easy for him to use the word and that he has to better and get it out of his vocabulary. There is no place for that word in this world. I am not mad at him, and I believe that he, along with most people deserve second chances, and deserve space to improve."

As the only active African-American NASCAR driver, Wallace said he was also hurt by how the incident led to the league as a whole being seen as racist.

"The sport has made combatting this stereotype one of their top priorities," Wallace said. "NASCAR has been doing what it can to get away from the 'racist and redneck sport' labels. Diversity and inclusion is a main priority for the sport across every team, every car, every crew member, and employee."

Following the incident, Larson was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR on Monday and was then fired by Chip Ganassi Racing after being dropped by multiple sponsors. The 27-year-old publicly apologized on Monday, saying, "The damage is probably unrepairable, and I own up to that."

Wallace became the first African-American NASCAR Cup Series driver in 11 years when he was called up in 2017. He's now in his third full season driving the No. 43 car for Richard Petty Motorsports.