NASCAR team boss breaks silence after suspending star driver for ‘homophobic’ comments

The fallout continues after that bombshell indefinite NASCAR suspension for Daniel Dye following his ‘homophobic’ comments earlier this week. And now we have the first public reaction from his team boss.

The 22-year-old Kaulig Racing star made comments about meeting IndyCar driver David Malukas on a WhatNot stream on Tuesday, during which he adopted a faux 'camp' voice while impersonating Malukas, drawing immediate attention on social media and being criticized as homophobic.

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NASCAR and Kaulig suspend Dye

As a result of his comments, Dye was penalized under Section 4.3.C of the NASCAR rule book, which states: “NASCAR Members shall not make … a public statement or communication that criticizes, ridicules, or otherwise disparages another person based upon that person’s race, color, creed, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, or handicapping condition.”

Kaulig responded by issuing Dye with a team suspension, though it is currently unclear when he will return to racing action. NASCAR has confirmed, however, that he must complete sensitivity training before he can return to competition.

Dye himself issued a lengthy apology on his social media channels, and now we have the first public comment since the incident from Kaulig CEO Chris Rice.

Chris Rice on Dye suspension

He told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio: "First and foremost, Randy, Daniel, those guys are family to us. You know, very unfortunate situation that arose this week that we got aware of, and there are protocols and different things that has to happen in NASCAR.

“We're in a sport today that we have a lot of people that watch us, and we have a lot of partners that are involved. When that happens, it's a lot of people you have to talk to and figure out what we need to move forward.”

Rice vowed that his team will come though this stronger, and will learn from mistakes made.

"So, you know, the one thing about this is that we always learn from our mistakes, including me. I've made many, many mistakes over my life, and I'm probably not done making mistakes. And we're just stronger when we get to the other side of it.

"That is the main thing that we have to look at, and with this, you know, you look at the NASCAR community and everybody else, there's a lot of eyes and ears on us now. Lot of TV cameras, lot of cameras all around us, and we have to really pay attention to what's going on."

Dye will be replaced by AJ Allmendinger for this weekend's Truck Series race at Darlington.