Nationwide driver Jeremy Clements found himself in hot water last week at Daytona after using a racial slur in conversation with a MTV reporter and was subsequently suspended and now NASCAR Vice President Steve O'Donnell has come out and said he felt it was the right move to make.
According to ESPN.com, O'Donnell spoke about the punishment on Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway and defended the decision by NASCAR to suspend Clements over the remark. He also added that the organization has a plan for his return to racing on the track.
"We believe strongly that we made the right move," O'Donnell said of Clements' suspension. "Our go-forward plan with Jeremy is to quickly engage Dr. Richard Lapchick to work with Jeremy as soon as possible and get Jeremy back in the race car as soon as possible and as soon as we deem fit."
The report says that Lapchick is one of the top experts when it comes to race relations and sports and that he has won a number of award over the years for his work. Officials said Wednesday that Clements was suspended for using an "intolerable and insensitive remark" while speaking with a reporter at Daytona last weekend.
Clements and the reporter both spoke and wrote about the incident later on, with the driver saying that the slur was used in conversation and that is was racial in nature.
"When you say 'racial' remark, it wasn't used to describe anybody or anything," Clements said. "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."
Clements was banned for the slur, which came up after an MTV reporter and a NASCAR official asked the driver if he could direct them to Johanna Long's trailer at Daytona. After being asked a question from the reporter, Clements used the slur.
"And while we're walking they started, he [MTV] started, asking me questions," Clements said. "And it wasn't recorded. We were just talking. So I said one remark about how I wouldn't ..."
He stopped short.
"I can't say that part," he said. "That's pretty much how it happened. And even after I said what I said, they still kept asking me questions. It didn't seem like it was a big deal at all. I didn't even think twice about it, like, after. I know I shouldn't have said it. Even when I did say it, I shouldn't have said it. But I didn't think it was going to be a big deal."
MTV editor Marty Beckerman confirmed later that Clements said the slur and described the situation surrounding the incident. He said that Clements spoke with him as they walked and that he asked him a question about ideas for a "Guy Code" for racing drivers.
"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]."
