Mini Tyrrell stole the show and won a seat in Kaulig Racing’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series lineup through the team’s unique reality-based game show RAM: Race for the Seat. So, with the Truck Series through its first stretch of the season, how is the rookie doing in his first outing in the big leagues?
In an effort to promote their return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, this past offseason, Ram Trucks and Kaulig Racing launched a NASCAR reality game show called RAM: Race for the Seat, pitting drivers against each other for a shot at breaking into NASCAR.
The show, which granted one lucky driver a full-time seat in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the 2026 season, was, for the most part, a promotional success, with each YouTube upload earning over 350,000 views.
Competition-wise, the show provided a quality winner, in Mini Tyrrell, a winner and short track favorite in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour.
Despite winning his seat, Tyrrell’s rookie season would be an even bigger task. So, with the Truck Series sitting in its first break of the season, let’s take a look at the young driver’s rookie season so far.
For a driver who has no experience racing in a national touring series, Tyrrell found himself immediately out of his comfort zone through the first three races of the 2026 season.
First, after one hour of practice, Tyrrell would start the first NASCAR National Series race of his career at Daytona International Speedway 37th, and, after avoiding some major incidents, finish 19th.
That next day, the 21-year-old had to race in the ARCA Menards Series opener, after a solid qualifying effort in an unbadged Chevrolet carrying Ram branding. Tyrrell started the race eighth, but spun out early, with his day ending after 37 laps due to mechanical issues.
Returning to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the second race of the season, Tyrrell took on one of NASCAR’s most unique tracks, EchoPark Speedway, a 1.5-mile intermediate that is designed to race as a superspeedway.
In his second-ever drafting race, Tyrrell would finish 19th after a 29th-place run in qualifying, but made little to no major impact in the race.
Continuing his baptism by fire, the Virginia natives’ third race of his NASCAR career came alongside the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ first-ever race on the streets of St. Petersburg.
As Ram and Kaulig had little to no past resources to prep for this race, they were on even ground compared to their opponents for the first time this season.
But, after a rainout of qualifying, Tyrrell started his first career road course race 21st and finished 28th, the first time he failed to improve on his starting spot all season long.
As of press time, the No. 14 team has an average finish of 22.0 and sits 20th in Truck Series points.
While Tyrrell might not be setting the world on fire, for a driver racing for a team that didn’t exist this time last year, this is a good start for the rookie.
The unpredictability of the first three tracks on the schedule, alongside his inexperience on drafting tracks and road courses, Tyrrell has held up his end of the bargain.
As far as Ram goes, their first season back in NASCAR has had some highs and lows, something that can be expected of a team using pre-owned equipment and just learning the ropes of Truck Series racing.
The real test of Tyrrell’s readiness will likely be the first short track race of the season, where the former late model driver, alongside his fellow CARS Tour graduate teammate Brenden “Butterbean” Queen, could show the series why they got their spots with Ram.
Luckily, the next three races of the season are all on short tracks, meaning Tyrrell’s chance to really prove himself may finally be here.
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