Ram Trucks’ re-entry into the NASCAR Truck Series became official on Sunday. And its announcement was heavy on hyperbole and light on details.
The Stellantis brand will return to the Truck Series next season after Dodge had been a mainstay in NASCAR’s third-tier series since its mid-1990s inception. Dodge’s last season in the Cup Series came in 2012 when Brad Keselowski won the title for Team Penske in a Charger and a Ram truck was last driven in the Truck Series in 2013.
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Ram made its announcement ahead of Sunday’s Cup Series race at Michigan, but that announcement didn’t include any teams or drivers for next season. It did, however, include this whopper of a quote from Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis.
From NBC Sports:
“Our objective is to take the 20 million (avid fans of NASCAR) and turn it into 80 or 100 million,” he said. “We have a plan. We know how we’re going to do it. We think we have a path to get to that. We think people are going to like the way we’re doing it because it’s going to be fun. Not ready to share all the details with you yet, but I told you that the experiential piece was going to be just a little bit of how we’re doing it. It’s going to get crazier from there.”
In case you were wondering, the average weekly TV audience for the Cup Series was 2.9 million people in 2024 — or, if you prefer, roughly 17.1 million fewer people than the number of avid fans that Kuniskis cited.
But even quadrupling NASCAR’s average Cup Series viewership to 12 million would be one of the greatest audience turnarounds in modern American sports history. And, well, the odds are quite stacked against a single truck manufacturer pulling that off. Especially with the number of trucks that Ram expects to field in 2026. Kuniskis said the brand wants to have four to six trucks in the field next season — though it was notable that no one had been locked up ahead of the announcement to be unveiled as Ram’s first partner.
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One of the drivers Ram is rumored to have a truck for next season is Garrett Mitchell. Far more widely known as the YouTuber Cleetus McFarland, Mitchell, 30, has made starts in the ARCA Series in 2025. He has over 4 million followers on his YouTube page and it reasons that many of them aren’t already regular NASCAR fans.
If Mitchell gets a ride in a Ram truck and is successful, he could certainly boost the Truck Series. But without many details — or even a confirmed ride for him — it’s way too early for predictions or proclamations.
Ram’s return is, however, a moment that’s been over 20 years in the making for NASCAR. Though the truck brand isn’t truly new to NASCAR, Ram is the first since Toyota in 2004 to join NASCAR. Since Dodge left NASCAR in 2013, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota have been the only three manufacturers in NASCAR’s top three series.
Will a fourth manufucturer join the Cup Series anytime soon? NASCAR has said for years that it’s been having discussions with other automakers, but nothing has come of those discussions.
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Sunday, that hedging continued. NASCAR vice president John Probst told the Sports Business Journal that the sanctioning body was “very close” with a new manufacturer while also saying that the manufacturer was yet to make a decision. Finally adding that fourth Cup Series manufacturer would be a big win for NASCAR. If and when it happens.
“I don’t want to jinx ourselves, but I would say we are very close with one other; can’t speak for them — obviously it’s their decision to make — (but) we would love for them to decide to come into NASCAR. And even with that, there’s one or two others that we’re a little bit earlier in the discussions (with) but also looking pretty positive. But we also know an OEM deciding to come into NASCAR — it’s a big commitment for them, and it’s not something they take lightly,” Probst said. “It requires a lot of research and approvals at the highest levels, and we’re confident right now, we like the position we’re in and think we’re a pretty good investment for an OEM.”
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