Kye Blight announced he will no longer be the driver of the BAR31 TEAM XR1 after immigration officials in the United States denied him a visa.

Blight shared on Facebook that he would be returning to Australia writing, “Just as Skylar Grey said, ‘I’m coming home.’ He added, “Paul and Alice have helped me grow and taught me so much. I’m looking forward to utilising those skills and values in my own team again.”

In a lengthier statement he shared as an image, Blight wrote, “As of October 9, 2024 I will no longer be the driver of the BAR31TEAM XR1. Paul and Alice gave a guy from little old Katanning, Western Australia a shot to be a professional racecar driver in the best region in the world for latemodel racing. For those opportunities, I will forever be grateful. I have had some of the greatest experience of my life, had a lot of fun and learnt more about racing and also life than I could have ever imagined. The things I was able to achieve both in the USA and in Australia while a part of the BAR31TEAM, I’m very proud of.”

He then revealed why he was departing the team, “As a lot of you may know, I applied for a P1 Visa and after many months of back and forward with lawyer and immigration, my application was denied.”

Blight then detailed a number of the accomplishments he achieved with the team, “In 2020, Paul, Alice and myself sat down and hatched a plan, with the end goal of racing a full national tour and becoming the first Australian team and driver to do so. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to achieve that goal, but we were able to achieve some pretty significant things together and I’m so bloody proud of that.”

“I started with Paul in 2016 and in that time I helped him be the first international to compete in the entire Hell Tour. I prepared the car he won his Australian Title in and the last A-Feature win he had at the Perth Motorplex.”

From there, Blight shared his plans for the future, “Moving forward, I have a new Production Sedan build underway and plan on racing that as often as possible. We have our WA state title to defend and the goal of winning the Australian Championship in Toowoomba, QLD. I am nowhere near ready to call it quits with latemodel racing. I love making the cars faster, I love the technology and I absolutely love driving the heck out of them.”

He added, “We are working out the details on securing a latemodel program to compete in the biggest Western Australian Latemodel season to date. If anyone is interested in being part of the team, reach out to us at Kye Blight Racing here on Facebook or on [email protected].”

Finally, he concluded, “I extended my gratitude to Paul and Alice Stubber for all the opportunities they have provided me and my family. Although I won’t be driving their racecars, I still look forward to being a part of the BAR31 Team and winning races with their logo on my racecars.”

Based on the Bar 31 Team’s schedule, Blight will compete at Tri City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois on September 19th and 20th. He will then head to Peoria Speedway in Peoria, Illinois for their race on Saturday night.

Next week the team heads to Brownstown Speedway on September 27th and 28th to compete with Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. On October 1st, they will continue with the Lucas Oil Series at Atomic Speedway.

The team concludes its season at Fairbury on October 4th and 5th.

According to My Race Pass, Blight has one win, 9 Top 5s, and 18 Top 10s in 33 features this year. His one win came it Monett Motor Speedway on August 4th.

Blight has made two starts with the World of Outlaws this year. He finished 19th in the feature at Maquoketa Speedway on August 17th and 25th in the feature at Cedar Lake on August 2nd.

What do you make of Blight having to give up driving for the BAR 31 Team due to U.S. immigration services denying him a visa?

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