Context and accountability are important here. NASCAR has a history of being a redneck Southern sport. They have tried hard to overcome this image to attract a broader fan base and sponsorship. Kyle owns this, he threw this word out there so he must call his friends that with some frequency. It doesn’t take a lot of brains to understand this word is completely unacceptable for a non-black to use and that doing so puts your life dream at risk. Regardless of what anyone thinks about political correctness he knows the consequences of using this word and now he pays. I don’t know if he should be fired but the sponsors have the right to pull their deal. The whole reason for sponsorship is to attract customers, hard to do when your driver is offending customers. I have been a fan of his but there is no defending what he said, it was stupid, he knows better, and now he must rebuild his reputation. No sense railing against our culture today, it is what it is and violating the norms carries consequences.