Racecar Driver Juri Vips Shows Second Chances Still Happen, Even if They're Increasingly Rare | Matt Reigle

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced that ex-Formula 2 driver Juri Vips will compete in the last two races of the NTT IndyCar season.

Vips will compete in the team’s No. 30 driven for most of the season by Jack Harvey. The team will no doubt be evaluating the 23-year-old Estonian at Portland and Laguna Seca for a potential full-time ride next season.

That’s huge for Vips. Not just because it's a step toward a full-time ride in IndyCar, but because second chances for those who make dumb mistakes — including young athletes — are becoming few and far between.

Last year, Vips was a member of the Red Bull Junior Team and competed in Formula 2 for Hitech Grand Prix. While a full-time seat in F1 within the Red Bull stable was probably unlikely he was a reserve driver for the team.

Vips won three races in F2 between the 2021 and 2022 seasons. There was a good chance that he would have continued to get funding from Red Bull beyond his F2 career.

However, in June 2022, Vips was suspended by the Red Bull Junior Team.

Juri Vips tests the Red Bull RB18 in 2022. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Vips' Mistake

The reason? He used the N-word during a Twitch stream. Sound familiar? It’s the same thing that got Kyle Larson suspended from NASCAR in 2020.

"Following its investigation into an online incident involving Juri Vips, Oracle Red Bull Racing has terminated Juri's contract as its test and reserve driver. The team does not condone any form of racism," Red Bull said in a statement at the time.

First of all, did anyone think that Red Bull condoned racism? No, but they feel the need to make that crystal clear for some reason.

I also wonder how much of their investigation looked into whether Vips even understood the severity of the word he used. After all, English is his second language.

Unfortunately, none of that mattered.

Red Bull cut ties with Vips. However, he maintained his ride with Hitech.

RLL Gets That Young People Make Mistakes

It doesn't make it okay, but wouldn't you think there's a big difference between someone like Vips using a word like that out of ignorance, and someone using it maliciously?

I think most people would say there is, and that the punishment should reflect that.

Well, Red Bull certainly didn't. They stopped supporting Vips, which left him without a ride for the 2023 season.

In the interim, Vips worked through several diversity and sensitivity courses in both England and the United States, according to NBC News.

Fortunately for Vips, mistakes like the one he made are becoming increasingly hard to return from, but fortunately for him, Rahal Letterman Lanigan is willing to give him a chance to put his career back on course.

“He has shown us enough for us to take that chance to give him a shot, and he has certainly worked hard to correct the mistake that he made,” Rahal said. “So we’re excited about him joining the team for these last two races, and hopefully he’ll do well.”

Juri Vips drives for Hitech Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi last season. (Photo by Joe Portlock - Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images)

Vips Has The Talent To Deserve This Second Chance

Everyone — especially young people — deserves a second chance after making a mistake the way Vips did. Fortunately for him, the driver market isn't particularly robust in the middle of the season. Plus he has more than enough talent to hop in an IndyCar and have a good chance at coming to grips with it.

“I had a lot of time to reflect on who I disappointed. I had so many fans, so many people cheering for me, so many people that helped me through my career, and I just threw it all away because I wasn’t interested in learning about anything. All I cared about was racing.

“I feel like I have grown as a person, but yeah, I am really grateful for the second chance, and I completely understand all the outrage.”

There's no doubt that allowing Vips to show what he's got will not go over well with everyone. Especially not the type of people who love to see heads roll when people make dumb mistakes the way he did.

The way Glen Kuiper did. The way Noah Gragson did.

Their outrage doesn't overshadow the fact that Vips has the talent to deserve this shot. F2 has been a fertile ground for IndyCar talent in recent years. RLL already has one recent F2 graduate in Christian Lundgaard. So, he's a natural choice.

Now, it's up to him to make the most of this opportunity.

At least he was one of the few lucky enough to even get a second chance.

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