Back in June, after years of speculation, NASCAR announced that a new manufacturer would join Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota. While not exactly new to NASCAR, it’s been since 2012 that Dodge had competed in one of the sport’s top three series. (They had come back in 2001 with Bill Elliott piloting the Ray Evernham ride and stayed until Brad Keselowski delivered Roger Penske a championship.) Dodge wouldn’t be headed straight back to Cup, however, but instead would make their start in the Craftsman Truck Series.
So far, so good. First of all, great to see another manufacturer in NASCAR (although the Canadian Tire/Pintys series featured Dodges for a number of years after they left Cup). Secondly, smart to use the Truck series as a first step to bring Dodge back to NASCAR in another year or so. Get all the bugs worked out, if possible.
However, this past week, Dodge and NASCAR made another announcement: Kaulig Racing will field up to five (5!!!) entries for Dodge next year in the Truck Series. That’s where I had to give my head a little shake and wonder why someone making a whole lot more money than me didn’t do the same.
It would be one thing if an established team made the switch to Dodge. ThorSport, for example, has a lengthy tenure in the Series dating back to 1998. They’ve switched manufacturers on multiple occasions. They also currently field five teams. A situation like that would have made sense.
Kaulig, on the other hand, has never logged a lap in the Truck Series. Some years ago, they exploded onto the scene in the Xfinity Series with Justin Haley, A.J. Allmendinger. Seemingly overnight, they became the feel-good team of the series and able to hold their own – and then some – with Gibbs, JR Motorsports, and RCR.
But then, Kaulig decided to focus on the Cup Series and just go “trophy hunting” in Xfinity. As quickly as they had risen to prominence, Kaulig started to stumble. Not only did their Cup program never get out of the starting blocks (save Allmendinger at the road courses and Ty Dillon in 2025’s In-Season Challenge) but bringing in the odd Cup guy to run Xfinity derailed all of their progress with their regulars in the Xfinity Series.
As I’ve stated before, Kaulig went from being the small team that could to being the small team that doesn’t. If running two series has done this, what makes anyone think that diving into the Truck Series full force is going to be a successful venture?
If Kaulig was still semi-dominant in the Xfinity Series and was even achieving Trackhouse levels of success in the Cup Series, I could perhaps see someone getting the bright idea of trying out a single Truck team for Dodge. However, with them being mid-level entries in two series, I’m not sure how adding up to five more rides in a third series they have no experience in is going to garner even one iota of success.
If someone had asked me a year ago about the Kaulig situation (although I’m not sure why someone would), I would have suggested they scale back. Bring the focus back to Xfinity and maybe just run Ty Dillon on the superspeedways and Allmendinger at the road courses in Cup. And, at most, maybe run one truck for Dodge.
There is already talk of Dodge being back in Cup by 2027 or 2028. 2026 will not just be a chance to get their feet wet in the Truck Series and contend in the series in a year or two before heading to what will be the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and then eventually Cup.
Sorry, Dodge. Sorry, Kaulig. Sorry, NASCAR. This is going to be a classic example of too much, too soon. You are asking a team that is struggling to double the number of rides and head into a series it’s never competed in, so you can take a returning manufacturer to the top level of NASCAR a year from now?
I hope I’m wrong but I think this move will stretch the already over-stretched resources of Kaulig Racing and cause Dodge to stumble right out of the gate. They need to walk before they can run and they’re trying to run the Boston Marathon before they’re sure they can take their first steps.
johnmilner.ca 