Joe White stated Wednesday on social media that he had been fired by Kaulig Racing. A team official confirmed the news to NBC Sports.
The move comes a few days after William Byron, unaware that Dillon was going to pit, ran into the back of Dillon’s car while running second with 32 laps left in the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Byron finished 36th at Las Vegas. Byron, the regular season champion, enters Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway 15 points outside the final transfer spot to Championship 4.
“I never saw him (Dillon) wave,” Byron said after exiting the infield care center last weekend at Las Vegas. “I didn’t see any indication that he was pitting. It was probably 12 to 15 laps after we had pitted, so I thought the cycle was fully over.
“Nobody said anything to my spotter, from what I know. I had zero idea. Everyone has been wrapping the paint really far around the corner and that’s what I was doing to have a good lap.
The longest track on the schedule will play host to a tripleheader weekend.
“I was watching him thinking – okay, he missed the bottom a little bit here. He just started slowing and I had no idea what was going on. I’m just devastated. I had no indication. Obviously, I wouldn’t have just driven full-speed into the back of him like that.”
Mike Forde, NASCAR managing director of communications, said on this week’s “NASCAR Hauler Talk” podcast that Brad Moran, managing series director, planned to talk to the crew chief of both cars to better understand what happened.
“We do need to get some answers,” Forde said on the podcast.
Also to be clear, it was already determined that I would not be spotting for Ty next year, but that I would still be with Kaulig in some fashion. But not now.
— Joe White (@White_Joe47) October 15, 2025
The crew roster for Kaulig Racing lists Frank Deiny as Dillon’s spotter.
Deiny had been teammate AJ Allmendinger’s spotter. TJ Bell is listed as Allmendinger’s spotter.
A team official confirmed those moves to NBC Sports.
White was a spotter last season for the No. 16 car at Kaulig Racing before pairing with Dillon this season. The No. 16 car had multiple drivers last season, including Allmendinger, Shane van Gisbergen, Derek Kraus, Josh Williams and Dillon.
The Cup Series races Sunday at Talladega. Pre-race coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
