A EuroNASCAR champion is under formal investigation by the series organisers after they were found to have sent racially charged messages in the Twitch chat of our own Elz Indriani.
On the evening of 8 May, OverTake streamer Elz Indriani was live on her personal Twitch channel when she received messages in her chat from a EuroNASCAR driver. These messages included racial slurs targeting Elz's Asian ethnicity.
A statement provided by EuroNASCAR read: "EuroNASCAR has made diversity and inclusion a priority and condemns every kind of racism and intolerance. The organization strives to offer an inclusive environment for the entire championship, partners and fan base. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will take all proper actions in due course after reviewing the facts surrounding this case."
The driver in question is Paul Jouffreau, the reigning EuroNASCAR 2 champion and current driver for the RDV Compétition team. After making the initial comments, he allegedly switched to the account of the sim racing team he competed for, Unity Racing, and continued the harassment.
Unity Racing have since released a statement claiming that they have expelled Jouffreau from the team, and that the comments made from their account are not reflective of their team's fundamental values. Their founders Thomas Toulemonde and Bryan Talatizi went on to say that they are "actively working to strengthen our internal policies to ensure that such incidents do not happen again in the future."
Jouffreau himself has released a statement claiming he will accept the decision that the organisers of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will make on the matter. As of the time of publishing, there is no official decision, but we will update this article once EuroNASCAR do make one.
Unfortunately, NASCAR racing drivers and racial online incidents are not unheard of. Infamously, Kyle Larson dropped a racial slur in iRacing voice chat during an event in April 2020, which led to him being suspended. He has since returned to the Cup Series with Hendrick Motorsports and won the 2021 title.
Then in 2023, Noah Gragson was suspended after he was found to have liked a social post making light of the murder of an African-American man by a police officer. After having his suspension lifted, Gragson now competes for Stewart-Haas Racing.
UPDATE 14/05/2024: EuroNASCAR have announced that Paul Jouffreau will be hit with a two-year probation throughout the 2025 season and an immediate fine. He will also be participating in a sensitivity meeting before the Vallelunga round of the championship from 18-19 May.
On the evening of 8 May, OverTake streamer Elz Indriani was live on her personal Twitch channel when she received messages in her chat from a EuroNASCAR driver. These messages included racial slurs targeting Elz's Asian ethnicity.
A statement provided by EuroNASCAR read: "EuroNASCAR has made diversity and inclusion a priority and condemns every kind of racism and intolerance. The organization strives to offer an inclusive environment for the entire championship, partners and fan base. The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will take all proper actions in due course after reviewing the facts surrounding this case."
The driver in question is Paul Jouffreau, the reigning EuroNASCAR 2 champion and current driver for the RDV Compétition team. After making the initial comments, he allegedly switched to the account of the sim racing team he competed for, Unity Racing, and continued the harassment.
Unity Racing have since released a statement claiming that they have expelled Jouffreau from the team, and that the comments made from their account are not reflective of their team's fundamental values. Their founders Thomas Toulemonde and Bryan Talatizi went on to say that they are "actively working to strengthen our internal policies to ensure that such incidents do not happen again in the future."
Jouffreau himself has released a statement claiming he will accept the decision that the organisers of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will make on the matter. As of the time of publishing, there is no official decision, but we will update this article once EuroNASCAR do make one.
Unfortunately, NASCAR racing drivers and racial online incidents are not unheard of. Infamously, Kyle Larson dropped a racial slur in iRacing voice chat during an event in April 2020, which led to him being suspended. He has since returned to the Cup Series with Hendrick Motorsports and won the 2021 title.
Then in 2023, Noah Gragson was suspended after he was found to have liked a social post making light of the murder of an African-American man by a police officer. After having his suspension lifted, Gragson now competes for Stewart-Haas Racing.
UPDATE 14/05/2024: EuroNASCAR have announced that Paul Jouffreau will be hit with a two-year probation throughout the 2025 season and an immediate fine. He will also be participating in a sensitivity meeting before the Vallelunga round of the championship from 18-19 May.