Racial Slur from Broadcaster Towards Montoya
When the five current top drivers were listed this past Saturday up on the screen, sportscaster Chris Speilman jokingly asked his partner Bob Griese where Montoya was. The response? One that is still stirring up headlines and causing much controversy.
His automatic response was, “He’s out having a taco.”
Sound a little weird to you? It is definitely not the worst thing that anyone has ever said, but he is a sports broadcaster. He has to be very careful with what he says, because there are millions of people listening! Griese has apologized as well as ESPN saying his comment was “he understands the comment was inappropriate”, but Montoya brushed it off Sunday, saying he never heard of Griese.
“Juan Pablo Montoya is one of the best drivers in NASCAR,” he said just before the end of the game. “I just want to apologize for the comment I made earlier in the ballgame.”
“It was regrettable and I should not have said it. I really enjoy NASCAR and I follow it closely and would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Juan, NASCAR and everyone else who heard my comment.”
Well, it seems that it was all in good fun, they were clearly in favor of Montoya for the top five and Montoya is not suffering any long term emotional damage. At the same time, I think the fact that it was confronted and dealt with was definitely what made the whole thing okay. Well, we will see Griese again once his 1 week suspension is up!
References
3. Griese
4. Montoya