IndyCar Driver Agustin Canapino Taking Leave Of Absence After Death Threats Controversy

On Friday, IndyCar team Juncos Holilng Racing announced that driver Agustin Canapino will take a leave of absence this weekend and will not appear in the Xpel Grand Prix at Road America. He will be replaced by Indy NXT driver Noah Siegel.

This news comes after an eventful week for JHR, which all started on Sunday with an incident involving Canapino and Arrow McLaren's Theo Pourchaire in Detroit.

Sure, it was Pourchaire's fault for coming into a corner too hot and hitting the side of Canapino's car, but after the race, some of Canapino's fans (he's a big star in his native Argentina) are alleged to have sent the French driver death threats.

While Canapino himself said he had not seen any such threats, Arrow McLaren ended its commercial alliance with JHR on Thursday.

Now, Canapino is out of the car for Road America and Siegel is in. 

"The growth of online abuse and harassment resulting from the events of this week have led to a very difficult experience for Agustin, the team and the entire INDYCAR fan base, and the safety of Agustin and the rest of the competitors has to be considered first and foremost," a team statement from Juncos Hollinger Racing reads. "Abuse, hatred, and harassment in any form is a detriment to this sport, and we must prioritize the mental and physical wellbeing of both our drivers and our competition."

Juncos Hollinger Racing's Agustin Canapino will miss this weekend's race at Road America.  (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The alleged incident with fans sending death threats to Pourchaire comes after Canapino's teammate last season, Callum Ilott, was on the receiving end of similar messages. 

Those incidents occurred after the two JHR cars came together on-track on two separate occasions last year, once at Long Beach and again at Laguna Seca.

Canapino is currently sitting P20 in the NTT IndyCar Standings.