After over a decade away from the sport, Ram is back in NASCAR. Formerly part of the Dodge brand before being spun off into its own marque, the pickup truck company will be the fourth manufacturer in the Craftsman Truck Series starting 2026.
Dodge was a NASCAR mainstay for much of the sanctioning body’s history, including competing in the Truck Series since the inaugural season in 1995. The company then brought back its factory division for the Cup and now-Xfinity Series in 2001, and works support continued across all three divisions until 2012.
During this stretch, Dodge won three Truck Series manufacturers’ championships in 2001, 2003, and 2004, as well as a drivers’ title with Bobby Hamilton in 2004.
Financial troubles related to the Great Recession and other matters prompted more teams to stop using Dodge until Penske Racing was the last, winning the 2012 Cup championship with the Charger before switching to Ford. With no more factory teams, Dodge pulled out before the start of 2013 despite having designed a car for the upcoming Gen-6 era.
Some smaller Xfinity and Truck teams continued to use the Dodge Challenger—affectionately nicknamed “Zombie Dodges”—and Ram until NASCAR phased out their respective vehicle generations. The 2018 Xfinity season finale at Homestead was the last race to feature a car from the Dodge family when Carl Long finished 33rd.
Despite their exit, fans still pegged Dodge as the likeliest manufacturer to enter the sport throughout the 2010s and turn of the decade. Besides having prior NASCAR experience, being an American brand made them more popular compared to foreign brands who’ve considered entry like Honda.
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Ironically, the financial turmoil means Dodge and Ram are currently owned by the Dutch-based company Stellantis, which was created from a merger between the Italian-American FIAT (which acquired Dodge/Ram after the recession) and the French Peugeot SA.
“The desire was always there, but we didn’t have a plan that delivered the last tenth and following just didn’t fit our DNA,” explained Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis. “Now, we have a solid plan that will set us apart from the field and will bring fresh new interest and engagement to America’s motorsport.”
The Ram stock car programme will be Stellantis‘ seventh factory motorsport division. DS Performance and Maserati compete in Formula E, while Peugeot has arms in the FIA World Endurance Championship and rallying. Citroën and Opel also have rally teams while Lancia re-entered that realm last fall.
All Ram teams will compete with the Ram 1500 truck, whose design is essentially a streamlined Ram Sport Truck. The company hopes to have four to six trucks for the 2026 season.
“Ram returning to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a major moment for the sport, and a sign that NASCAR remains a strong platform for blue chip brand partners,” NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief racing development officer John Probst stated.
“We are excited to welcome Ram back to the sport. Its identity includes high performance, durability and innovation: characteristics that embody NASCAR and, specifically, the Craftsman Truck Series.”
What about Cup?
Although Ram and Dodge are no longer the same marque (not that it’s stopped people from still describing the trucks as “Dodge Rams”) and the latter is mainly an electric brand nowadays, Stellantis intends to use Ram’s return to gauge if Dodge could do the same at the Cup and Xfinity levels. But when could we see that?
While Dodge shifted to electric vehicles in the late 2010s, a trend that many manufacturers have followed, it’s become apparent that the transition is not as smooth as hoped. Perhaps to little surprise, many Americans enjoy ICE engines too much to ditch.
Dodge isn’t ignorant of this either. Days before announcing the NASCAR return, Dodge brought back HEMI V8 engine, which had been phased out in the switch to electric. Such a motor won’t be used by the Ram programme, at least not immediately as teams will instead rely on the spec Ilmor motor. Still, having the blueprint for V8 engines can be a stepping stone towards building up Dodge’s stock car operations.
In a press conference following Sunday’s announcement, Probst explained the manufacturer entry process will take roughly 18 months. Most of that time comes from the OEM submitting the car’s body for evaluation by NASCAR.
On the other hand, Probst noted engine components like the block, head, and manifold from Dodge’s previous NASCAR effort can be used again. Work will obviously need to be done to update the engines for modern competition, but it beats having to start from scratch like other manufacturers.
In other words, if Stellantis were to begin developing a Cup division soon, Dodge will likely enter the top series as early as 2027. Feasibly, 2028 at the soonest might be practical as Stellantis will likely want to see how Ram fares in 2026.
