INDIANAPOLIS — It was the most heartbreaking 24 hours of Kyle Larson’s life.

On Sunday evening, April 12, Larson used a racial slur — the n-word — while playing the iRacing video game. His conversation went out over a public channel and was heard by thousands of listeners.

The fallout was swift. Within hours, Larson was suspended by Chip Ganassi Racing and NASCAR and was essentially fired by all of his major sponsors.

He was later fired by Ganassi and now his NASCAR career hangs in the balance.

Larson is a good man who made a bad mistake. Based on our many interactions over the past several years, Larson has never once shown even a hint of malice, racism or hate of any kind. I absolutely believe his heart is good.

But somewhere along the line he allowed this word to become part of his vocabulary, and he is now paying an immeasurable price.

This is another episode in a troubling trend in racing involving young drivers using racial slurs in casual conversation. Earlier this year at the Chili Bowl, Michael Faccinto’s entry was withdrawn after he used this word in a media interview following Tuesday night competition.

It makes me think that younger people don’t understand the meaning of the word and the powerful and ugly history behind it.

So what’s the big deal? It’s just a word, right?

Our nation has an ugly history when it comes to race. Asians, Jews, Hispanics, Native Americans — along with white immigrants such as Irish, Poles and Italians — all suffered at one time or another. But none were abused to the degree of black people.

For almost two centuries, blacks were murdered with impunity: shot, beaten, drowned, dragged from cars and hung from trees. In every episode — and in common conversation — this word was the label consistently used to portray black people as less than human.

Over the past 50 years we — as a nation — have tried to move past that history. It’s not about being oversensitive, it’s about trying to get to a better place and be a better human being.

So what do I know about it, anyway? If you don’t want to listen to a middle-aged white guy, do some homework of your own. Study things like lynching, and Jim Crow, and Mississippi in 1964.

This is raw, unflinching history, an uncomfortable part of the American story.

Learn about Emmett Till and Medgar Evers and four young girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. This word was used to describe — and dehumanize — those people. Learn what happened to them and then argue that it’s just a word, after all. No big deal.

Eventually, history caught up with us. American culture began to take a hard look at what the word means. Just like there are no funny Holocaust jokes, there is no good context for using the n-word. American society has decreed that the word is outside the bounds of human decency and those using it are judged accordingly.

Go ahead, jump up and rail that black rappers and comedians use the word without punishment. Rant that we’re a bunch of snowflakes and victims of political correctness. Point to a black person you know who doesn’t object to you using the word. But you’re on the wrong side of the issue, friend. The rules have changed and that is reality.

Every young racer in America needs to pay attention to what just happened. Actually, everybody in racing needs to pay attention. Look how quickly and firmly the fallout came. Whether you agree or not, it happened.

Kyle Larson — a good person and a terrific racer — is paying an enormous price for one slip, one utterance of a powerful word. Doesn’t that tell us something about how America views a non-black person using that word?

If I were a young racer and cared a damn about my career, I would take every step necessary to remove such language from my consciousness. I’d quit listening to any music where it’s used. I’d distance myself from anybody in my world — young or old — who uses the word. I’d take 20 minutes to study American history and understand that it’s about more than simply not using the word — it’s about why you don’t want to use it.

Kyle Larson can, and will, recover from this. He is a good soul and eventually he will convince people that the content of his character is much greater than the flaws of his vocabulary. It’s going to take time, and effort, and sincerity. But he can do it and I hope he does. Not just because he’s a good racer; because he’s a good person. That’s much more important.

Warren Buffett is a smart guy and he says some wise things. This, in particular, stands out: “It takes 20 years to make a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

That’s powerful. And very true.

Editor’s Note: This is a sneak preview of Dave Argabright’s column that will appear in the May issue of SPEED SPORT Magazine.