Randy Pobst’s responses on Twitter were a master class of what NOT to do when called out.
Automotive Journalist Alanis King shared with her Twitter followers earlier this week the disparaging and sexist in tone exchanges she had with driver-for-hire Randy Pobst during a press event featuring the KTM X-Bow in Sonoma, California earlier last year.
During the event, King alleges Pobst questioned her knowledge of the KTM’s X-bow’s transmission and if she had the skills necessary to manage a 300 HP lightweight, open-wheel go-kart at speed on a bonafide track.
King, at first, doesn’t out Pobst, but identifies him several tweets later.
More than a day after King’s tweets hit the internet, Pobst himself responded, claiming to have never met King before and having no recollection of their interactions over that weekend.
In one particularly inflammatory tweet, Pobst replies to King, asking “Are you on drugs” and “Who are you?”
Ironically enough, one reply to King’s tweets pointed out Pobst’s cover photo, him in an X-Bow at the event in question.
Pobst quickly deleted his replies minutes after posting, but everything lives forever on the internet.
Here are King’s tweets, including Pobst’s deleted responses, recounting their interaction below.
He did not ask the men that, that I heard. Assigned seating put us across from each other at dinner. He asked if I’d ever driven on track before.
— Alanis King Jones (@alanisnking) July 26, 2020
“The last time I was on track was actually at Shanghai International.”
“And that car was an automatic?”
“No. It was a stick.”
Oh also it was Randy Pobst
— Alanis King Jones (@alanisnking) July 26, 2020
Imagine insulting someone multiple times before confusing them for someone else, only to say “Have I met you?” and tell them they’ve confused YOU for someone else when they actually call you out. Just apologize and be better in the future. pic.twitter.com/g7KwIwcUeb
— Alanis King Jones (@alanisnking) July 26, 2020
Upon seeing Pobst’s latest video on VinWiki titled, Do race car drivers really get all the girls?, I think it’s safe to say his recounted stories do not help his case. In the eleven minute video, Pobst describes how motorsports facilitated a “Friends with benefits” arrangement in his college years and later on enhanced his chances at getting with a girl already in a relationship. If the original YouTube video is no longer available, a mirror is provided below.
Since King’s Tweet’s have gone up, several of her fellow automotive journalists have retweeted her story to support King and to bring awareness to the larger issue at hand.
Our actions, assumptions, and biases towards women in male dominated professional arenas professional settings, whether on purpose or not, can foster a non-inclusive environment that makes women question their expertise, despite skills to the contrary.
so disappointing and enraging to know that so many men in this industry constantly go out of their way to be shitty, dismissive, and unprofessional to women they work alongside. https://t.co/9Kwt0iAq2a
— mack (#BlackLivesMatter) (@MacklinHogan) July 26, 2020
The instructor who rode with me on my first track day was a woman. And she was a badass. To this day the lap she did in my JCW to show me the track is the standard I hold all track day laps to. https://t.co/sUJFdWOmX1
— Angry Rican (@angry_rican) July 27, 2020
Whether Pobst will post a proper apology recognizing the event has yet to be seen. Since deleting his tweet’s he’s posted updates about his racing gig in Oregon on Instagram.
Both reviews on the X-bow from King and Pobst from that weekend are linked here and here, respectively.
A part of me thinks Pobst is hoping this will all blow over.
