The Denver Post almost immediately fired renowned and award-winning sports reporter Terry Frei Sunday, after he announced on Twitter that he was uncomfortable with a Japanese driver winning the Indy 500 on Memorial Day weekend.
Takuma Sato became the first Japanese driver to win the storied race, though far from the first non-American. In fact Europeans won it every year from 1912 – 1919.
But Frei didn’t like it.
Frei attempted to apologize, writing that his father fought in World War II more than 70 years ago, and that had something to do with his feelings about a 40-year-old Japanese race car driver. But it didn’t fly, and the Post unequivocally apologized and announced Frei’s departure.
Meanwhile it was all smiles for Sato, who drew many Japanese fans to the racetrack.
“This is going to be mega-big,” he said after the race. “A lot of the Japanese fans are following the IndyCar Series and many, many flew over for the Indianapolis 500. We showed the great result today and I am very proud of it.”
