Just three weeks after NASCAR Truck Series team Kaulig Racing parted ways with driver Daniel Dye after he made insensitive comments on a livestream in March, the recently reinstated driver will now find himself running multiple Cup Series races later this season.
Live Fast Motorsports announced on Monday that Daniel Dye will be driving the No. 78 car in four Cup Series races, including this coming weekend at Talladega Superspeedway in the the Jack Link’s 500 in Alabama.
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Related: Daniel Dye, Kaulig Racing Part Ways
Even putting Dye’s suspension and insensitive comments to the side, his results in the Truck Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series make this an odd decision from Live Fast Motorsports. The 22-year-old driver has no experience in the Cup Series, and his results in the lower series don’t exactly warrant a multi-race seat at the highest level.
He’s raced 48 times in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, including at The LiUNA at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 14. He finished 15th in that and placed inside the top-20 in just two of his three OARS races this year. In his last 21 races in that series, he had an average finishing position of 21.9.
Read More: Cleetus McFarland Reveals When He’ll Run Next O’Reilly Race
In the Truck Series, he failed to record a top-12 finish in the three races before his suspension. Going back further, he had a modest average finishing position of 16.44 with just a single top-five finish (Talladega) in his last 13 Truck races.
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As for off the track, in addition to the insensitive comments he made, Dye was arrested in April 2022 while a student at Father Lopez Catholic High School and charged with felony battery, only to have it later reduced to a misdemeanor.
As for why Dye is getting this ride with Live Fast Motorsports in the Cup Series, it’s worth noting that his father, Randy Dye, is a former Pro Late Model driver who owns the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram dealership in Daytona Beach and serves on the board of directors for the NASCAR Foundation. Money and influence certainly seem to be heavy factors in the opportunity being handed to Dye.
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