Ty Dillon's ex-spotter says he was 'disappointed but not surprised' after Kaulig Racing fired him after Las Vegas incident


After last week's incident with William Byron at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, former Ty Dillon spotter Joe White was waiting for a phone call from Chris Rice, general manager of Kaulig Racing, the team Dillon drives for. The call finally came Wednesday afternoon and delivered bad news for White.

Rice told White that the No. 10 Kaulig Racing team would part ways with him effective immediately. Although disappointed, White was not surprised by the news, as he was not going to scout Dillon next season. Reflecting on his split with Kaulig Racing, White told The Athletic:

“They fired me. They let me go from my position. I'm disappointed, but not surprised, because I knew I wasn't going to see this car again next year anyway.”

It will be replacing white AJ Allmendingerspotter, Frank Deiny, while TJ Bell will move to Allmendinger's team, taking Deiny's place. Ty Dillon has yet to comment on the change. White, on the other hand, explained his appearance in a recent statement.

“To be clear, here's the story of what happened last Sunday,” White said. “I actually went down and told the spotter on the 24th (piloted by William Byron) that we were engaging, and he misinterpreted the information. That's what happened.”

Ty Dillon didn't make the playoffs this year, but he can still try to record his first win of the 2025 season. Next up for the driver is the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. Scheduled for next Sunday, October 19th, the 188-lap event will be broadcast live in the US (starting at 2pm ET onwards) with live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

'I hate to say it' – Ty Dillon blames William Byron's team for Las Vegas incident

While some thought it was Ty Dillon who should have pointed out William Byron about the breasts, the Kaulig Racing driver himself thought otherwise. He was told that Byron's spotter knew Dillon was coming to pit road, so he didn't wave at Byron.

“I wasn't even looking in the rearview (mirror), I was just focused on getting my marks to get to pit road,” Ty Dillon said in a statement. “I don't think I was too high or anything, just trying to get on pit road, and the next thing I knew, I was getting hit.”

Unlike Dillon, William Byron was competing for the championship. Despite starting in the top five, Byron had to settle for a DNF, his fourth this season. The Hendrick Motorsports The standout now sits 15 points short of the cut in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings.

“I hate to say it, but I think it's up to them,” Ty Dillon continued. “I probably could have turned them down more blatantly, but I don't know if I would see it. I hate to ruin their day, but I don't even know what we would do differently there.”

After 33 races on the season, Ty Dillon has accumulated just one top-10 finish. He ranks 32nd in the drivers' standings with 447 points to his name. Byron, meanwhile, is fifth with 4051 points, 10 top fives and 15 top 10s in more than 970 laps led.