Police: ARCA racer and Father Lopez senior Daniel Dye arrested for felony battery on classmate

Daniel Dye, a driver in the ARCA racing series and a senior at Father Lopez High School, was arrested Tuesday for punching another student in the groin during class, sending the victim to the hospital with a serious injury, Daytona Beach Police said.

Dye, 18, was jailed on a charge of felony battery. He is out of the Volusia County Branch Jail on $2,500 bail, court records show.

The son of local car dealer Randy Dye, Daniel won his first career ARCA race last summer and competed in a handful of events in 2020 for Ben Kennedy, NASCAR's current Vice President of Strategy and Innovation.

He signed on with GMS Racing this season to run his first full-time ARCA schedule, finished third in the season-opener at Daytona in February and has a pair of top-three finishes in three races. Dye recently finished 17th last weekend at Talladega.

Reached by telephone on Wednesday, when asked for comments about his son's arrest, Randy Dye said "None right now."

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ARCA issued this statement: "ARCA Menards Series officials announced penalties to ARCA driver Daniel Dye following an off-track incident on April 26. Dye has been suspended indefinitely for violation of the 2022 ARCA Rulebook Section 12-8.1.E.2 which references ARCA Member Conduct Guidelines."

GMS Racing released the following: "Daniel and the Dye family are cooperating with local law enforcement. No further comment will be made on the subject until more information becomes available."

Investigators with the Daytona Beach Police Department said the incident occurred at 2:50 p.m. on Monday at the high school at 3918 LPGA Blvd.

The injured student told police that while sitting in class, Daniel Dye came up to him and started dancing in the victim's face, an arrest report states.

The victim pushed Dye away but he continued to dance near the victim, police said.

The victim thought the incident was over but Dye suddenly came from behind and punched him in the groin, according to the report.

The student fell to the ground, but was able to leave the room where he realized that he was seriously injured, police said.

The injured student drove home to his father and went to the hospital, police said.

At the hospital, the student was referred to a urologist, the arrest report noted.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR racer, student Daniel Dye arrested for punching classmate in groin