INDYCAR DECRIES ONLINE ABUSE DIRECTED AT DRIVERS

IndyCar doesn't come close to F1 in viewership numbers, but the recent nastiness directed toward drivers shows that its fans are as rabidly passionate...

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Callum Ilott and Agustín Canapino are teammates. Ilott is British, Canapino is Argentine and through their first three months working together, everything seemed just fine as tiny Juncos Hollinger Racing showed decent on-track progress. But when a sequence of ill-timed events caused Canapino to crash while the rookie was leading his first IndyCar laps, it was Ilott who was attacked on social media, with some rabid Canapino fans even making death threats against the 24-year-old. What did Ilott do to deserve such vitriol following the Grand Prix of Long Beach? Well, he exited pit lane as the field was about to go green and found himself in front of Canapino as Canapino was about to take the green flag. Helio Castroneves, who was running a lap down, made an aggressive move in an attempt to get around Canapino and return to the lead lap. Instead, Castroneves and Canapino made contact, Canapino's race ended and his fans believed it was all Ilott's fault for clogging the track in front of his teammate. Ilott addressed the hate directed his way — specifically replying to an Argentine broadcaster — in a Twitter post on Monday. But that seemed to only further fan the flames. Since Ilott's post: IndyCar has issued a statement decrying “disrespectful and inappropriate online abuse.”