Racism Charge Rocks(?) NASCAR

Bryan Berry, the crew chief for Nationwide Series driver Brendan Gaughan, was suspended after an incident in last Saturday night's race where he allegedly yelled a racial slur at driver Marc Davis. Are you stunned yet?

Davis, who is black, made an ill-advised turn on pit road that caused Gaughan to slam into his back bumper, creating major damage to both cars. Berry jumped out of the pit box to chase Davis back to the garage, shouting a stream of profanities along the way, and at least two witnesses say they heard a racial slur in there somewhere. (Take a guess which one.)

It's probably not news to anyone that NASCAR is dominated by Southerners who have a slightly different perspective on race relations than a elite, Northern liberal like myself. When people are angry they sometimes say thing they normally wouldn't—it doesn't appear that Berry said the slur directly at Davis as he chewed him out back in the garage, so yay for sensitivity—and the complex racial history of blah blah blah.... Berry's a jerk, Davis is taking the high road, and life will go on on the racing circuit. I'm sure Davis had heard a lot worse—and will hear plenty more before his driving career is over.

Crew chief suspended for using racial slur [AP] NASCAR suspends crew chief after confrontation, use of racial slur [That's Racin']