The controversial Jeremy Clarkson is to be sacked from the world’s most popular TV show about cars, BBC’s Top Gear, according to a published report.  He was apparently already on his last warning when he got into a physical altercation with one of the show’s producers earlier this month.

The UK Daily Telegraph newspaper reports that BBC chief Lord Tony Hall will make the announcement as early as Wednesday.  Reportedly, Lord Hall will thank Clarkson for building Top Gear into a global powerhouse, and for being a “brilliant broadcaster”. 

As for the heated fracas with producer Oisin Tymon, an internal investigation found that Clarkson’s beef couldn’t be pettier.

After a day’s filming and a stop at a pub with co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond, Clarkson was told that the kitchen of their North Yorkshire hotel had stopped serving hot food and he couldn’t have a steak and chips.  Clarkson’s reaction to that was to berate Tymon for 20 minutes, calling him “lazy” and belittling Tymon’s Irish heritage.  At some point, Clarkson allegedly got physical and punched the producer. 

Clarkson’s behavior was already raising eyebrows.  Top Gear beat a hasty retreat from Argentina after Clarkson drove a car that sported a plate which seemed to mock the Falklands War.  He appeared to work a vile racial slur into a segment about the Toyota 86, and then denied it.  And there was the anti-Asian slur in the Top Gear Burma Special filmed in Myanmar.

It’s not clear if Hammond and May will stay with the show.  The Beeb is reportedly trying to tap 48-year old Radio 2 Breakfast Show host Chris Evans to take over Top Gear.  Evans is a gear head with an impressive car collection.

As for Clarkson, there’s already talk of him doing a series for the American online provider Netflix.  Since upwards of three million people signed a petition begging the BBC to keep Clarkson, he may already have an eager audience.