Indianapolis 500 champion Takuma Sato, of Japan, poses with the Borg-Warner Trophy during the traditional winners photo session on the start/finish line at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Monday, May 29, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
By:
May 29, 2017

The Denver Post on Monday fired sportswriter Terry Frei a day after he tweeted that a Japanese driver’s victory in the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend made him “very uncomfortable.”

On Sunday, Frei launched his tweet after Japanese driver Takuma Sato held off the competition to win the Indy 500 on a day of hair-raising crashes. “Nothing specifically personal, but I am very uncomfortable with a Japanese driver winning the Indianapolis 500 during Memorial Day weekend,” Frei tweeted. He deleted the tweet shortly after.

Hours later, he issued a lengthy apology citing the emotional nature of Memorial Day weekend and his father’s military service.

https://twitter.com/TFrei/status/869036468429127680

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Benjamin Mullin
Benjamin Mullin was formerly the managing editor of Poynter.org. He also previously reported for Poynter as a staff writer, Google Journalism Fellow and Naughton Fellow,…
Benjamin Mullin

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