RAM CEO: Dodge Still Wants to Get to Cup by 2027
What’s Happening? Despite the difficulty of creating a NASCAR Cup Series program from nothing, Ram Trucks CEO Tim Kuniskis recently told…
After over a year of speculation and rumors, a new report indicates that Dodge could be on track to make its NASCAR Cup Series return as early as next season.
Over the past year, NASCAR fans have heard plenty of rumors about two new manufacturers re-joining the sport.
One of these manufacturers, Ram, has already made its debut, pushing through the 2025 season to return to the Craftsman Truck Series with Kaulig Racing.
Unfortunately, Ram’s fellow Stellantis-owned brand, Dodge, faced a much longer timeline for a potential return to the NASCAR Cup Series due to the stark differences between the two series.
Even though they already have ties to a chartered NASCAR Cup Series team through Kaulig, Dodge, unlike Ram, had to create an engine program, a simulation program, and design a NASCAR Next Gen body.
For Kaulig, this stretch of R&D has been brutal, with the brand essentially running ‘zombie’ Chevrolets throughout 2026 in hopes that Dodge can make it to Cup by 2028.
Still, during this process, rumors and even comments from executives at Stellantis led the brand to hope to accelerate its timeline for the 2027 season.
Last June, Tim Kuniskis, Stellantis’ Head of American Brands, told NASCAR Analyst Kevin Harvick the brand’s goal was to return in 2027, saying that everyone in the industry “told me we’re crazy.”
“It’s gonna take a little bit longer to get to Cup. Our goal is to get the Cup a year after that [2026]. Now, everybody’s told me we’re crazy. ‘There’s no way you’re gonna get there.’ But we think there’s a couple of things from our legacy that might speed that development time up. And maybe we could be in Daytona this year with Trucks, and then the following year, Daytona in Cup.” — Tim Kuniskis on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, June 2026
While this seemed like a lofty goal, a new report suggests that a breakthrough could bring the final brand representing Detroit’s “Big Three” back to NASCAR by February.
What’s Happening? Despite the difficulty of creating a NASCAR Cup Series program from nothing, Ram Trucks CEO Tim Kuniskis recently told…
Per Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, sources say Dodge is “increasingly likely to enter NASCAR’s Cup Series in 2027.”
In particular, Bianchi’s report notes that a prospective Next Gen version of a Dodge Challenger body has “already undergone initial wind tunnel testing” and adds that Dodge may have cleared a hurdle in engine production following a recent “breakthrough.”
What’s Happening? One major storyline to follow during the 2025 and 2026 NASCAR seasons is the ongoing saga of Dodge and…
During the golden era of NASCAR, Dodge played a key role as an American manufacturer, with drivers like Richard Petty and Bobby Isaac remembered as leaders for the brand.
Still, into the 1980s, Dodge disappeared from the sport, leaving Ford and General Motors as the sport’s primary competitors, with GM fielding multiple brands like Buick, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, and Pontiac.
During NASCAR’s rise in national prominence, Dodge made its long-awaited return to the sport in 2001, fielding five teams and eight cars. Over time, this roster would rotate until the late 2000s, when Dodge’s primary teams whittled down to just Team Penske.
Though Dodge created a body style for the 2013 debut of the NASCAR Gen 6 racecar, the brand would not make the jump into the new generation of cars, leaving the Cup Series and eventually the sport’s lower division after the 2012 season.
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