NASCAR team PUNISHES employee after 'Hawk Tuah' meme controversy

A NASCAR employee has had to face serious consequences after posting a version of the viral 'Hawk Tuah' meme on his team's official account.

The incident occurred on X, formerly Twitter, when a rain delay led to practice and qualifying at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway being canceled.

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Fans of NASCAR Xfinity Series team JD Motorsports were in for something of a surprise to see the 'Hawk Tuah' girl edited into a picture of the clouds over the New Hampshire circuit, symbolising the woman spitting on the track.

Whilst some fans found the meme, which has been repurposed in hundreds of ways since going viral, funny, others felt it was not appropriate, a view shared by the team who have since acted against the employee.

Employee faces consequences for 'Hawk Tuah' meme

Robert Dorman, a tire specialist at JD, was the offending party, and has since lost his access to the social media account.

He confirmed this on his personal X account, writing: "well boys, I went out on top 🫡", and later confirming that, "I’ve been removed from JD socials, [the post] didn’t meet “his [team owner Johnny Davis'] beliefs. Had to delete it".

Amid speculation that Dorman had been fired from the team entirely, Davis issued a statement addressing the controversy via the team's X account.

"Here at JD Motorsports, our social platforms have to represent and support our partners," he explained. "As a parent who has raised a special needs child, I've had to explain many misunderstandings to my child.

"[Dorman's] post did garner a lot of attention. As a tire guy who had privileges to post only racing content, this did not meet what Robert was allowed to post.

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Here at JD Motorsports, our social platforms have to represent and support our partners. As a parent who has raised a special needs child, I've had to explain many misunderstandings to my child. @RDorman19's post did garner a lot of attention. As a tire guy who had privileges to…

— JD Motorsports (@JDMotorsports01) June 26, 2024

"Not that I have to defend my actions to the Nascar community, but how does a parent explain this subject matter to their child who doesn't understand? I had to react to Robert Dormans' post according to our standards and beliefs.

"Robert Dorman was not fired from his job as a tire specialist at JD Motorsports, His privilege of posting “racing” only content was revoked!

"We appreciate a good clean joke or meme as much as anyone, but there are boundaries. Thank you for being a true fan of JD Motorsports."

This statement was met with some criticism in the replies. One fan wrote that "at least his social media post[s] produce better results than your do cars on track," whilst another posted, "What is a child too young to understand the joke doing on twitter? Sounds like a bad excuse for a knee-jerk reaction."

On the other hand, some praised the decision, one writing: "I’m sorry that most commenters here don’t understand that a special needs child thinks differently than others. Shows how our world is today."

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