PORTLAND, Ore. — Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing knew its latest driver would be controversial, so much so that the social media manager turned off the ability to comment on posts announcing the hiring.
Juri Vips, a 23-year-old from Estonia, will make his IndyCar debut this Sunday at Portland International Raceway and finish the season in the No. 30 Honda for RLL. He will also race next week’s finale in Monterey, California.
Vips has been out of racing since June 2022 for using a racial slur while playing an online racing game with live viewers. He was a Formula One test driver and in the Red Bull system at the time, but was fired after an investigation.
The transgression didn’t scare off Bobby Rahal, who tested Vips at Sebring last year, at Barber earlier this season, and has used him for simulator work for RLL.
“It’s no secret that he made a mistake and paid a huge price,” Rahal said after announcing Vips’ hiring. “But people in Europe who I knew were very, very complimentary about him as a driver and as a person. This mistake was a single mistake. Unfortunately, as we all know, Juri paid a huge price for that and lost his position in the Red Bull system, which he was the preeminent junior driver at the time.”
Rahal said the time his organization has spent with Vips convinced the team the young driver deserved another chance. Vips completed diversity training programs, and Rahal said he worked with an organization that assisted NASCAR star Kyle Larson in his comeback from his own use of the same racial slur referring to Black people.
“I think Juri for many years, he has known he made a big mistake, and he has paid for it, but now he’s trying to come back. So we’re pleased to give him that second chance,” Rahal said. “He has shown us enough for us to take that chance, you know, to give him a shot, and he has certainly worked hard to correct the mistake that he made. So we’re excited about him joining the team for these last two races, and hopefully he’ll do well.”