NASCAR suspended Daniel Dye indefinitely on Tuesday — the second major penalty against a young driver — after he called another racer a “gay voice” for mocking another racer during a livestream.
Dye, 22, was opening trading cards when another man on the stream said IndyCar driver David Malukas “plays for another team,” prompting an offensive, homophobic taunt.
Day called it his “David Malukas gay voice”.
“Oh my gosh, we’re racing Indianapolis. Love Indianapolis and Roger Penske, I love Roger, love Roger,” Dye said, raising the inflection of his voice and cocking his head in a mocking fashion.
Those comments were against NASCAR rules, which prohibit members from “making any statement that criticizes, ridicules or disparages another person based on that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age or disability,” the organization said.
Die drives in NASCAR’s third-flight Craftsman Truck Series, a development level below the top Cup Series, and the second-flight O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
He is 13th after three starts this young season. Dice Cowlig Racing has also suspended him.
Malukas, the 24-year-old son of Lithuanian immigrants, races in the top-flight NTT IndyCar Series. He is currently sixth with his first career pole and a pair of top 10 finishes.
Dye apologized and admitted the mistake on social media.
“I chose my words poorly and I understand why that upset people,” Dye said in a statement. “I’m sorry if anyone was offended. Now I want to represent myself.”
Dye said he wanted to be a “good friend” to the community.
“I have some close friends in the LBGT+ community who never want to lower themselves because of what I say, and that’s why I have to hold myself to a higher standard,” Dye continued. “Talking to them, I realized that a true friend knows better than to act the way I did, and I should be a better friend for that.”
This is Dye’s second major suspension. The 18-year-old was removed from the Oval in 2022 for punching a high school classmate in the groin, leading to a felony charge that was eventually dropped to a misdemeanor.
