What’s Happening?

While he says that “everybody in the garage has talked to Ram,” regarding Kaulig Racing’s interest in going Truck Series racing with NASCAR’s new OEM, team President Chris Rice teased that “anything can happen.”

Since February, when reports first surfaced that Ram Trucks, a division of Stellantis and the former truck division of Dodge, was returning to NASCAR, fans of the sport have wondered which team will take the leap to the OEM.

While established teams, such as Niece Motorsports, have denied these rumors, and there is no word on new teams opening shop with Ram, one name being thrown about the NASCAR Rumor Mill is Kaulig Racing. Kaulig, a long-time fixture of the Chevrolet stable in the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series, has not shied away from the press about these rumors, though they haven’t confirmed them either.

“Dale Earnhardt said it the best,” said team president Chris Rice during a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “If they’re talking about you, good or bad, they’re talking about you. That means they’re worried about you.”

During this interview, Rice again addressed the rumor about the team adding a truck program with Ram. While this would be an easy move on paper, the long term is more interesting, as Kaulig has deep ties to Earnhardt’s former team, RCR, and their ECR engine program.

But Rice, still not confirming or denying talks with the OEM, has repeated something he said earlier this month. “I think everybody in the garage has talked to Ram. . . I think everybody has had a conversation with those guys,” Rice said.

Of course, adding a Truck Series team would be a new step for Kaulig. Rice said that he and owner Matt Kaulig had “checked it out,” but he hinted that this was not as businessmen but as race fans, attending the Jul. 25 race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

However, what caught the attention of fans during this interview was Rice’s comments about the team’s Xfinity Series program. Rice said they will “probably” be a two-car operation, slimming from three after a mid-season separation with driver Josh Williams.

It might be easy to suggest they were making space for a truck team or, as Rice said, adjusting for changing sponsorship. Rice said that it is still up in the air who is getting a deal with Ram, but he told the hosts that if Kaulig were the ones to get it, he would make it public.

“I think it’s still up in the air,” Rice said. “I think it’s a couple of teams that’s in the mix. But I can promise you one thing. If we get it, I will guarantee you, I’ll be able to tell you guys, and we’ll be smiling about it.”

But, when asked if this is confirmation that a truck team is a “possibility,” Rice again circled the answer, saying, “I think it’s always a possibility. I just said we’re going to be aggressive. We might go late model racing.”

But perhaps most important of all is Kaulig’s need to find victory lane, a driver that could push it in a new direction. “He [Matt Kaulig] just told me Sunday, flying home, [that] he is ready to win again,” Rice said. “And when he says that, he means it.”

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