NASCAR’s Daniel Dye Suspended for Mocking Another Driver’s “Gay Voice”
Dye apologized and said he was “taking this seriously and working on being more aware and respectful moving forward.”
Justin Casterline/Getty Images NASCAR driver Daniel Dye has been “indefinitely” suspended from competitions and dropped by his team, after he ridiculed another driver with a “gay voice” during a livestream this week. Dye, a 22-year-old driver in NASCAR’s developmental Craftsman Truck Series, mocked IndyCar driver David Malukas while opening trading cards on the streaming platform Whatnot, as seen in a recording of the stream posted to Reddit on Tuesday. Another person on the stream claimed Malukas “plays for the other team,” after which Dye adopted an accent he referred to as his “David Malukas gay voice.
” “It’s like ‘Oh my gosh, yaas, we race Indianapolis. Love Indianapolis and Roger Penske, I love Roger, love you Roger,'” Dye said on the stream, bobbing his head back and forth and pursing his lips. In response, NASCAR officials announced that Dye was “indefinitely suspended from NASCAR” in a press release Tuesday evening.
Dye’s “gay voice” broke NASCAR rules that prohibit speech which “criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person” based on sexual orientation, officials said. He will be required to complete sensitivity training before returning to competition. (Malukas, 24, has not previously made public statements about his sexuality, and has not commented on Dye’s remarks or suspension.
) Kaulig Racing, the team Dye joined just last year , also suspended Dye after learning of his remarks, per an X post on Tuesday. The team did not share further information about the terms of the suspension. In a statement posted to X shortly after Kaulig announced his suspension, Dye apologized to Malukas for his “careless comments,” saying they did not reflect how he feels about his “close friends in the LGBTQ+ community.