Nelson Piquet Jr.’s transition to United States’ culture got an immediate yellow flag from NASCAR officials for an anti-gay remark on Instagram.
According to numerous reports it was a comment about another Nationwide Series’ driver’s own tweet. And it could have been read as typical driver versus driver humor except taken in black and while on its’ own, in the absence of any other facts, it is taken as offensive.
NASCAR fined the Brazilian son of the three-time World Champion, Nelson Piquet, $10,000, required sensitivity training and placed on indefinite probation.
Photo: Nelson Piquet Jr / Facebook
Nelson Piquet Jr. recently communicated an offensive and derogatory term that cannot be tolerated in our sport,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations. “NASCAR’s Code of Conduct explicitly spells out in the 2013 rule book our position regarding the use of disparaging terms. We expect our entire industry to abide by this Code.”
“I sincerely apologize to everyone for my poor choice of words last week. I did not mean to hurt or offend anyone. This has been a cultural learning experience that will make me a more sensitive person moving forward,” Piquet reacted in a written statement.
His Turner Scott Motorsports team also issued this statement “We have spoken to Nelson about his insensitive comment and he understands that such remarks will not be tolerated at Turner Scott Motorsports. TSM expects those associated with the team to uphold professional standards that we can all be proud of. Nelson has assured the team that he has learned his lesson and he knows what it means to represent TSM.”