NBC Sports: Paul Tracy did not make racist Facebook post that came from his account
Former IndyCar driver and current NBC IndyCar analyst Paul Tracy has been retained by the TV network for 2019 after NBC said it determined that an offensive post made from his Facebook account was not made by him.
NBC made the announcement it was keeping Tracy on Thursday.
“We conducted a thorough investigation of this matter over the past two months, and given the current evidence have concluded that Paul did not write the offensive post,” NBC’s statement said. “Per this conclusion, Paul will continue with our team for the upcoming 2019 season.”
Tracy was accused of saying “No I have invited them all to a party at your house to listen to you play the mini guitar then they are going to rape your wife then you” on Facebook in response to someone he knew in a conversation that centered around immigrants.
Tracy’s initial defense was that a fake Facebook account purporting to be him made the comment. But as part of NBC’s announcement that he was coming back, Tracy said he was hacked.
The user Tracy’s account was engaging with said he doubted the fake account defense when it was first presented. He plays the mandolin and said a person pretending to be Tracy would not know that but that the real Tracy does.
Like he was as a driver throughout his IndyCar, Tracy has pushed the conventional boundaries of behavior expected from someone representing a corporation on social media while working at NBC. A scroll through his likes on Twitter includes many tweets from adult film actresses in various states of undress. Especially on Tuesdays. In January, Tracy posted a picture to Instagram from when he drove the Kool car for Team Green with the caption “Happy mlk day everyone.” Kool is a brand of menthol cigarettes.
A post shared by Paul Tracy (@paultracyofficial) on Jan 15, 2018 at 6:07am PST
A spokesperson for NBC Sports told Yahoo Sports on Saturday that Tracy “is now fully aware of our social media policies.”
Tracy, 50, has been an IndyCar analyst for NBC the past five seasons. He won 31 career IndyCar races in 285 starts from 1991-2011.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter
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