It didn't take long for both NASCAR and Kaulig Racing to take action against Craftsman Truck Series driver Daniel Dye, after he criticized Team Penske IndyCar driver David Malukas, mocked his voice, and referred to it as "gay" while on a livestream.
Dye was suspended indefinitely by both the sport and his race team, and he is required to undergo sensitivity training before he is considered for reinstatement, at which point he would need to be granted a playoff waiver to remain eligible for the postseason.
As it stands, he's 13th in points through three races, three points below the playoff cut line.
Daniel Dye out indefinitely
While we're not quite sure what the point of that whole rant even was, other than the childish bone Dye apparently has to pick with IndyCar since they don't race as many ovals as NASCAR, it's perplexing that he was senseless enough to believe it would go unnoticed on a livestream, and even more so that the nature of the comments would not be punished, especially in this day and age.
Dye is a driver who has a history of not only making poor decisions but making insulting marks about the NTT IndyCar Series, yet he has also been awarded and nationally recognized for the work he does for his "Race to Stop Suicide" charity, making the situation even more confusing.
Even more bizarre is the fact that he admitted he didn't even know who Malukas is before meeting him in St. Petersburg a few weeks ago.
Everybody makes mistakes, but even ignoring the insensitive nature of the comments, this mistake just seemed entirely pointless.
Kaulig Racing suddently have a new truck to fill
Kaulig Racing have yet to confirm any replacements for Dye behind the wheel of the No. 10 Ram truck, beginning with this Friday night's race at Darlington Raceway, but Dye very well may have inadvertently set them up for a temporary version of Ram Race for the Seat 2.0.
Kaulig Racing's two Cup Series drivers, Ty Dillon and A.J. Allmendinger, are both eligible to run the No. 10 truck. Dillon drove the No. 25 "Free Agent" truck for the team earlier this season at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway).
Beyond this weekend's race at Darlington, there are just two more races on the schedule until the start of May, so it's possible that Dye won't be out for more than three races if he can complete the training and demonstrate that his boneheaded mistake was truly a one-off.
Friday's Buckle Up South Carolina 200 is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from Darlington beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!