Dodge Takes First Step in Return to Stock Car Racing

What’s Happening?

Though Ram Trucks is set up to return to NASCAR in 2026, its fellow Stellantis brand, Dodge, is taking its first step back into oval racing with a new set of late model body panels.

If you’re at the PRI show, make sure to swing by @FiveStarBodies and check out our no. 26 Late Model on display with the new Nextgen Dodge Charger nose. Big thanks to the Five Star team for their continued support, we’re proud to have them alongside Bubba Pollard Racing! pic.twitter.com/G4NYv4YiHH

— Bubba Pollard (@bubbapollard26) December 12, 2025

Throughout the 2025 racing season, the story of the return of Ram Trucks to NASCAR has taken the NASCAR world by storm.

Though Ram is set to take on the Truck Series in 2026, its fellow Stellantis brand, Dodge, which left the NASCAR Cup Series in 2012, is projected to join the highest form of stock car racing in the next few years.

While Stellantis is building its Dodge program for NASCAR, the brand has already turned its attention to grassroots racing, with the unveiling of the new 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack Nose at the Performance Racing Industry Show in Indianapolis this week.

The nose, alongside a Charger-style rear bumper cover, was designed by late model body manufacturer Five Star Racecar Bodies to match the body style found on the brand’s newest Charger model, including its revived Fratzog logo, and is certified for ABC-sanctioned Late Model races.

In a release from Stellantis, Kevin Kidd, motorsports competition director for Stellantis American Brands, said, “Direct Connection, working with licensee Five Star Racecar Bodies, is continuing to bring the presence of the all-new Dodge Charger to the racetrack with a new Charger Scat Pack nose, and Charger front and rear graphics kits for grassroots Late Model racers.”

These new body panels could also serve as a glimpse into what a potential NASCAR Cup Series body could look like for the brand. For example, with brands like Chevrolet, their Camaro ZL1 Late Model body is similar to the one they have used in the Cup Series since 2018 (minus slight alterations).

Dodge’s Return to NASCAR

The timeline for Ram Trucks’ return to NASCAR is about as hectic as it gets nowadays.

In February, rumors and later reports suggest that the brand was interested in returning to the Truck Series in the near future. In June, at Michigan International Speedway, Ram confirmed this would be in 2026, with hints that a Cup Series return, presumed to be with Dodge, could come in the next few seasons.

Nonetheless, some fans were confused by the quick nature in which Stellantis joined the Truck Series, and why they had to wait on the Cup Series. Of course, this is because the route to start a Cup Series program is much more complex than the Truck Series.

Though Dodge is rumored to be aiming at the 2027 season, they still have to build a team, find drivers, and, most important of all, develop an engine program, something that is not a hurdle in the Craftsman Truck Series, which uses a spec Ilmor engine. This means they only needed to develop a body and find a team to race in the series.

Ram/Dodge has locked down the first two problems, with Kaulig Racing teaming with Ram in 2026; there is still little information on their plans for a Cup Series engine program.

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