NASCAR driver Jeremy Clements has been at the center of a media story after news came out that he used a racial slur in an interview at Daytona and was later suspended and now the MTV writer who heard the slur has confirmed it to the media.
According to ESPN.com and MTV.com, Clements used a racial slur in conversation with MTV editor Marty Beckerman, who was at Daytona to cover the race for the websites Guy Code Blog. In an article written on MTV's website, Beckerman described what happened between the two and describes what Clements said.
Beckerman was at the event at Daytona International Speedway to do "a fish-out-of-water story about going to NASCAR and having a wild, crazy weekend" and while looking for driver Johanna Long's trailer, Beckerman and a NASCAR publicist asked Clements to lead them there, having a conversation as they walked together.
"And, we were doing interviews with many of the drivers, and I was on the way to another interview -- we were looking for [driver] Johanna Long's trailer -- and the NASCAR publicist called Mr. Clements over and asked him for help finding her," Beckerman said.
The two began talking while they were walking and after Beckerman asked Clements about some ideas for a "Guy Code" for racing drivers, Clements uttered the racial slur.
"He [Clements] walked us toward where she was, and on the way over, I explained to him that 'Guy Code' [the name of an MTV blog] is rules for guys, how you treat your friends, how you treat your ladies, things like that. I was there to do a humor piece, so I asked him what would be 'Guy Code' for race car drivers, and he blurted out [a phrase that used the n-word]."
The report about the comment and Clements' suspension was reported by ESPN.com on Wednesday and the driver attempted to explain his remarks on Thursday before the post on the MTV website came out.
"He [Clements] walked us toward where she was, and on the way over, I explained to him that 'Guy Code' [the name of an MTV blog] is rules for guys, how you treat your friends, how you treat your ladies, things like that. I was there to do a humor piece, so I asked him what would be 'Guy Code' for race car drivers, and he blurted out [a phrase that used the n-word]."
Clements spoke with ESPN and while he did not say the word he uttered, he explained that it was a racial remark.
"Was it racial or not? Maybe not in context, but in term?" Clements replied: "Correct."
"When you say 'racial' remark, it wasn't used to describe anybody or anything," Clements told Smith. "So that's all I'm going to say to that. And it really wasn't. I was describing racing, and the word I used was incorrect and I shouldn't have said it. It shouldn't be used at all."
Beckerman wrote about the story on MTV on Friday and said that he debated whether he should even publish the story, as it happened in conversation and not for a news piece. Clements was suspended indefinitely on Wednesday by NASCAR officials after the remark and they did not verify or explain exactly what he said, but that it was an "intolerable and insensitive remark''.
"We had not even intended to necessarily publish it, because our site is a humor site for men, we aren't the New York Times, we aren't investigative journalism. It didn't fit with our blog," Beckerman told MTV. "The fact is that NASCAR made this a national story, and then Clements explained a bit of what he said to ESPN. ... I never wanted to be part of the story."