Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice has insisted that Ty Dillon and the No. 10 team bear no responsibility for the William Byron Las Vegas crash during Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a point made clear as questions swirled around the incident‘s playoff implications. The crash, which occurred late in Stage 3, saw Byron run into the back of Dillon while the latter entered pit road, raising intense debate in the NASCAR community.
Kaulig Racing Stands by Ty Dillon After Las Vegas Incident
The William Byron Las Vegas crash became a talking point after Byron, then running second in the playoff standings, was tangled up with Ty Dillon, who was a lap down. Chris Rice, Kaulig Racing’s CEO, immediately clarified his team’s position on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, emphasizing that Dillon did nothing wrong when Byron’s car collided with him:
“Man, we can blame it on a lot of things. I can tell you what’s unfortunate for us is couple $100,000 damage for a car that was slow, and then it hurt the 24 in the playoffs. But man, it’s racing, dude, the green flag is out. When you’re racing, it’s out. The pit road was open. You can do what you wanna do. Blame it on what you wanna blame it on, go watch a lot of the guys pit at that place.”
— Chris Rice, CEO, Kaulig Racing
Rice reiterated that Dillon was focused on his own strategy when entering the pits, and did not attempt anything out of the ordinary to cause Byron’s misfortune. He added:
“… I hate placing blame on somebody that was actually just running his own race. He was doing his own thing, he was doing his own deal, just trying to make the best of it. I’m not the guy that’s gonna sit here and take up for my driver, but what I am gonna say is they were doing their own thing. I don’t feel like they were in the wrong.”
— Chris Rice, CEO, Kaulig Racing
The high-speed racing at Las Vegas, made even more intense during playoff rounds, saw Dillon struggling outside the lead lap, while Byron was in contention for a top finish. During the pit cycle, Byron said he received no signal – no hand wave or gesture – from Dillon, which would have indicated a pit stop was imminent. Byron expressed frustration post-race about the lack of warning.
Rice Explains Why Visibility Is an Ongoing Issue
Chris Rice addressed the visibility challenges facing drivers today, pointing out that even with attempted signals, it is nearly impossible for competitors to see hand gestures from inside modern stock car cockpits:
“You would have never seen his hand out the window. I don’t care, he could have had his hand all the way out the window, the only person you could have seen his hand out the window was SVG, he has long enough hands. But everybody else, you’re not gonna see it. They sit too far back in the race car, you can’t see out of those cars anyways. Man, them things are hard to drive now. William was probably on his own agenda.”
— Chris Rice, CEO, Kaulig Racing
This lack of visibility further complicated the critical moment of the William Byron Las Vegas crash, as Rice argued that even if Dillon had tried to wave, it would not have prevented the collision.
Byron’s Playoff Hopes Take a Major Hit
As a result of the crash, William Byron suffered a dramatic fall in the standings, finishing 36th in an event where he appeared set for at least a top ten. He now faces a steep climb in the Round of 8, sitting 15 points below the playoff cutline with just two races left in this phase.
Rice, while expressing empathy for Byron’s situation, held firm against accusations that Kaulig Racing or Dillon should answer for what happened:
“At the end of the day, it’s not on the No. 10 car.”
— Chris Rice, CEO, Kaulig Racing
He further elaborated:
“I hate it but at the end of the day, it’s not on the 10 car. I’m not gonna say that, the green flag was out. It’s called racing, you’ve gotta have slow cars to pass so you have a good race. If you don’t have slow cars and you just have fast cars riding around, it’s gonna be an awful race. So, we were slow that day, and he would have passed us in the next corner or whatever.”
— Chris Rice, CEO, Kaulig Racing
CEO Chris Rice Unyielding in Response to Blame
Chris Rice summed up his feelings about the incident and the criticism leveled at his driver, stating unequivocally:
“I hate it for everybody, but I’m not gonna take blame. You’re sitting at a stop light and get hit from the back end, are you gonna take blame that the car from behind you hit you?”
— Chris Rice, CEO, Kaulig Racing
This analogy underlines Rice’s frustration with the aftermath of the William Byron Las Vegas crash, where he feels the wrong party is being targeted for blame, intensifying emotions inside the Kaulig Racing team.
What This Means for the Playoff Picture
As the NASCAR playoffs continue, William Byron now finds himself needing strong performances in the coming two races to keep his championship hopes alive. The debate over blame for the Las Vegas incident is likely to persist, but Kaulig Racing stands by Ty Dillon and maintains that the chain of events was simply part of the unpredictability and tension of playoff racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. NASCAR’s postseason drama remains heightened, with drivers, teams, and fans all closely watching how this high-profile crash will influence the next stages of the championship race.
🗣️"At the end of the day, it's not on the No. 10 car."
@KauligRacing CEO Chris Rice shares his thoughts on the Ty Dillon and William Byron incident from @LVMotorSpeedway.
More → https://t.co/MKhd9eLpQA pic.twitter.com/cGzvN4vo6w
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) October 15, 2025
