Driver/owner Josh Reaume of Victoria, one of the few Canadians to motor into the rarefied world of NASCAR, has been suspended indefinitely by the auto-racing organization.
NASCAR said it was for a social-media post that violated its conduct policy.
NASCAR did not specify the contents of Reaume’s social-media transgression, a photo of a late-night snack. But auto-racing news website Kickin’ the Tires, citing a source, reported icing on the snack to be in the shape of a swastika.
“I put some icing on a strudel and took a picture of it under a caption ‘ready to eat,’ ” Reaume told the Times Colonist from North Carolina. “It was a thoughtless, meaningless post. There was no intent or symbolism meant. It was taken out of context. But I own it and I apologize to anyone who found it offensive.”
The backlash, some of it threatening, has taken Reaume aback.
“It is shocking the number of people who jump on the bandwagon about what a bad person I am,” he said. “I have deleted my Twitter account.”
Reaume said his family, friends and fans on the Island know differently.
“I drove at Western Speedway and I worked there as well at All Fun Park in Langford,” said the 30-year-old former Highlands resident.
“Anyone on the Island who knows me, knows this [incident] is not something I represent and it is not the person I am. I come from a multi-ethnic background and the team which I own has some of the most diverse and multi-ethnic drivers and staff in NASCAR.”
NASCAR cited section 12.8.1.e for the suspension.
The section includes “public statements and/or communication that criticizes, ridicules another person based upon that person’s race, colour, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age or handicapping condition.”
NASCAR has ordered Reaume to take sensitivity training next week.
“That is something I fully support doing,” said Reaume.
He is expected to be reinstated in January.
Reaume is a driver and co-owner of Reaume Brothers Racing team in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. He placed 39th in the recently-concluded 2020 season with 12 starts. He also had two starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series during this pandemic-affected season.
Reaume had an average finish of 28.2 in the truck series. He has one top-10 finish in 52 career truck starts. He has also run 35 career races in the Xfinity Series.
Among Canadian drivers, only Stewart Friesen and Trevor Boys have more all-time NASCAR starts than Reaume.
Reaume began at Western Speedway, racing Go-Karts, and turned pro in 2009 as a driver and was hailed an heir to a proud Victoria auto-racing tradition that includes Billy Foster, the first Canadian to race in the Indianapolis 500, and three-time and top-10 Daytona 500 racer Roy Smith.
Reaume, a University of Victoria mechanical engineering graduate, knows the intricacies of engines more that most drivers. He began in NASCAR as an engineer at age 23 for Tri-Star Motorsport of Charlotte, North Carolina. He later drove for Obaika Racing, the first African-owned racing company to contest in NASCAR.
The former Islander was born in Redlands, California. Reaume spent 13 years in Nigeria, where his parents did humanitarian work, before coming to the Island when he was 15.
“It’s a bit of an unusual background for car racing and I’ve had to come a long way in order to do this,” Reaume said in a 2014 interview with the Times Colonist.
“Vancouver Island is known all over for having a huge motor-sport community. Because of the cost of getting off the Island to race, you have to provide the racing here for yourself [at places like Western Speedway]. The mechanical engineering degree from UVic has given me a better understanding of cars than most drivers.”