NASCAR truck series driver Daniel Dye has been suspended indefinitely by the racing series after comments made on a livestream about IndyCar series driver David Malukas.
The comments came while Dye was live streaming a card pack opening on the platform WhatNot, which is a platform for live shopping. Dye was telling a story about meeting Malukas while both series were at St. Petersburg earlier this year.
While he was telling the story, Dye then used a homophobic voice to mimic Malukas. He then said, “As soon as I start doing a David Malukas gay voice I hit a gold so let’s keep it going.”
Dye currently sits in 13th place in the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings. The 22 year-old drives for Kaulig Racing. He was suspended indefinitely both by NASCAR and by his Kaulig Racing team in the wake of the controversy. The 24 year-old Malukas drives for Team Penske in IndyCar where he is currently in 6th place in the standings.
It’s not the first time that Daniel Dye has made national headlines for the wrong reasons. In 2022, the then-18 year-old was suspended by ARCA when he was arrested for allegedly punching a fellow high school student in the groin. He was also accused of grinding his pelvic area in the student’s face. Dye was reinstated after his felony charge was dropped to a misdemeanor.
NASCAR says that Dye must complete sensitivity training before being eligible to return to competition. The truck series driver posted an apology on social media after the suspension was made public.
Of course, it’s also not the first time a NASCAR driver has gotten into significant trouble for offensive comments made on a livestream. In 2020, Kyle Larson was suspended indefinitely for using a racial slur during a COVID-era Twitch stream where motorsports stars were doing an iRacing event at the historic Monza oval. Larson was later dropped by Chip Ganassi Racing when it resumed racing later in the year. He returned to the series in 2021 driving for Rick Hendrick and went on to win his first NASCAR Cup series championship.
NASCAR had made concerted efforts in past years towards diversity and inclusion. However, like many sports leagues during the second administration of Donald Trump, the racing series has publicly pulled back those efforts. In 2025, the series also greatly reduced their public recognition of Pride month in June with a solitary LinkedIn post to commemorate the occasion.
Thus far, there has been no response from either David Malukas or his IndyCar team owner Roger Penske to the livestream comments or the NASCAR suspension.
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