IndyCar: After Long Beach race shenanigans , O’Ward and Ilott slammed on social media

Pato O’Ward has joined the call for cooler heads following a nasty online fallout from the Long Beach IndyCar race after he took out Scott Dixon and almost took out race winner Kyle Kirkwood.

Callum Ilott was also hit with social media attacks after ruining Agustin Canapino’s race.

IndyCar would go on to issue a statement of its own :

“Over the last 24 hours, some of our drivers have been the target of disrespectful and inappropriate online abuse. There is no place for this behavior in our sport.

“While fierce competition and rivalry will always be a mainstay of IndyCar racing, it’s important to showcase and celebrate these attributes with ultimate respect and concern for the well-being of our competitors.

“IndyCar is a community that should always strive to build upward with support and appreciation for one another.”

A statement posted on O’Ward’s social media on Monday night (local time) reads,

“Having different points of view when it comes to racing, and championships, is completely natural.

“In my opinion, it’s these differences that make this sport so fascinating.

“However: there is a line that should never be crossed. I think it’s important to always speak with the knowledge that your words have power – it’s incredibly disappointing to see people using their words to purposely hurt, disrespect, threaten, and degrade others. It’s absolutely unacceptable.

“We are all human beings and to judge us as anything OTHER than that is absolutely mindblowing to me.

“As if we are not allowed to make mistakes? To drop the ball? To make a bad call?

“In what world are these standards reasonable?

“They aren’t. And they never will be.

“I encourage everyone to choose their words wisely, and to seriously consider the damage they are capable of inflicting before speaking them.”