Is history repeating itself for Dodge and NASCAR? With Saturday’s announcement that the Ram Truck brand will enter Craftsman Truck Series competition next season with Kaulig Racing, potentially entering as many as five trucks, there’s a lot of anticipation from fans as well as Cup and Xfinity teams that sister brand Dodge will follow Ram and potentially enter those series as early as 2027 or 2028.
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Neither Dodge nor NASCAR have made any comment about a possible return to Cup and Xfinity, but this is almost like an instant replay of Dodge’s initial return to the sport back in 1995 with the Truck Series, and then 2001 with the Cup Series, and later in Xfinity too.
Of course, prior to that, Dodge and its Chrysler and Plymouth sister brands had a long history of success in NASCAR, most notably with Richard Petty and Petty Motorsports. Who can forget Petty’s Plymouth Superbird with its outlandish rear wing in 1970? Not to mention the Hemi motor that NASCAR banned in 1965 because it claimed it gave Petty and other Mopar drivers too much of an advantage over competitors and manufacturers.
Returning to NASCAR competition makes sense for Dodge and its parent company Stellantis, as they produce some of the fastest and most powerful street cars in the industry, most notably the Dodge Charger, Dodge Challenger and the Dodge Durango SUV, as well as the Ram, which is one of the most powerful and versatile pickups in the market.
Finally, Dodge listened to its fans and consumers
Dodge fans have been clamoring for years for the company to return to NASCAR. By 2012, it had departed from all three series, which ironically also was the only year Dodge claimed the Cup championship in the modern era, with Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski behind the wheel in its swan song campaign. So what kind of timeline can we expect from Dodge and a potential return to Cup and Xfinity?
First a bit of history: Dodge entered the Truck Series in 1995, but it took six years before it entered the Cup Series with the then-Intrepid model. Given Saturday’s announcement of the partnership with Kaulig, it’s doubtful that Dodge will wait another six years to re-enter Cup and Xfinity.
Another question is who will spearhead Dodge’s potential return to NASCAR’s top two series? Ray Evernham, who led Jeff Gordon to three of his four Cup championships as Gordon’s crew chief, shepherded Dodge’s re-entry to NASCAR but it took him nearly 18 months to see the first car on a racetrack.
Dodge will likely want to capitalize on its return to NASCAR in the coming months with increased advertising and promotions. Ram trucks are among the most popular brands in the pickup genre.
Dodge’s move to EVs was a big mistake
In an unusual move two years ago, Dodge and Stellantis vowed to push the company the electric way with its vehicles, including coming up with simulated throaty exhaust sounds because electric vehicles can’t make the loud motor sounds that gas-powered engines can.
Consumers hated that move, absolutely hated it. Countless lifelong Dodge fans protested the change in Dodge’s all-electric strategy and refused to buy another car from the company. Needless to say, sales of the EVs tanked.
The company finally came to its senses and responded to its consumers to bring back growling, high horsepower, gas-powered Detroit muscle including some of the fastest production models in the world like the Hellcat, Demon, and Scat Pack versions of the Challenger, Charger and Durango.
Dodge will not say if or when it will return to the Cup and Xfinity Series. But an educated guess is 2028, provided, of course, that Ram’s return is as successful as the company and Kaulig Racing hope it will be.
Whether Kaulig will also shepherd the potential return to Cup and Xfinity remains to be seen, particularly since it will have its hands full with the multi-truck program. Kaulig already has good resources, and with Dodge’s support for the Ram brand in the NASCAR Truck Series, those resources will be significantly enhanced with millions of dollars in investment from Dodge.
Will we see Ram go back to its old slogan from the early 2000s of “Grab Life By The Horns?”
But if Dodge returns to Cup and Xfinity, it’s almost a sure bet that it will return to another iconic slogan: “Hey, that thang got a Hemi?”
