Kaulig Racing revealed an overhaul of the team’s No. 10 RAM 1500 entry for the remainder of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season on Tuesday, March 31.
Corey LaJoie will assume full-time driving responsibilities of Kaulig’s No. 10 entry. His first race will be this upcoming weekend at Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. LaJoie replaces Daniel Dye. Dye was the initial full-time competitor of the entry. He is currently ranked in 19th place in the 2026 Truck driver’s standings.
Dye was suspended by both Kaulig and NASCAR on March 17. This was due to the driver mocking and making homophobic comments towards NTT IndyCar Series competitor David Malukas. It happened during a live stream on Whatnot, a live-stream platform where users sell items and host online video auctions. With his suspension occurring before the series event at Darlington Raceway on March 20, veteran AJ Allmendinger drove the No. 10 entry in a one-race appearance.
Dye, who has been reinstated by NASCAR, took to social media to reveal his departure from Kaulig Racing. He added that he was going to concentrate on long-term success. and become a successful competitor with hopes of returning to competition in the near future.
In addition to Dye’s social media post, Kaulig Racing also took to social media to confirm Dye’s departure.
The full-time promotion of driving for Kaulig Racing in the Truck Series division comes as the North Carolina native had initially commenced the 2026 season without a full-time ride. After falling short of qualifying for this year’s 68th running of the Daytona 500 with Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing, LaJoie has since competed in two Truck events this season. They included the season opener at Daytona International Speedway with Henderson Motorsports in February. He also competed at Darlington Raceway in Kaulig’s No. 25 Free Agent RAM 1500 entry. Now, he will compete alongside Kaulig’s three full-time Truck Series competitors, including Justin Haley, rookie Brendan Queen, and newcomer Mini Tyrell.
LaJoie expressed his gratitude and determination to utilize his racing experience. His focus is to make Kaulig Racing’s Truck Series program competitive in its first season of competition.
“The last couple months I’ve missed the grind of working towards a goal of success on track,” LaJoie said. “There’s certainly a lot of work ahead of us, getting our Ram trucks to a place where we compete for wins. But, with the people in the Kaulig Racing building, I believe we will get there.”
“I really appreciate the confidence Kaulig Racing and Ram have in me.” LaJoie added, “I have been a part of building a couple teams from the ground up and getting success. And I will bring that experience to help Kaulig get to their potential on a quicker path. I love what Kaulig and Ram are doing to promote the Truck series and the sport. It will be a fun challenge to be a part of.”
LaJoie is no stranger to the Truck Series division. He has made 276 starts in the Cup Series division and 22 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series division. And, he has also made 16 Truck starts to date. Across those starts, he has achieved three top-five results, eight top-10 results, and a trio of career-best fifth-place finishes. All of these occurred while driving for Spire Motorsports this past season. He has also led 36 laps with an average finish of 14.1. But he is still pursuing his first victory in the Truck division and within NASCAR’s top three national touring series.
“We selected Corey because of his extensive experience in just about every series in NASCAR and how well he worked with our organization at Darlington when he drove the No. 25,” Chris Rice, chief executive officer of Kaulig Racing, said. “He brings the skill, maturity and work ethic we need to get our Ram program where it needs to be. We think he’ll help us speed that development and battle for checkered flags. We’re confident he’s the right driver to help us.”
LaJoie, who finished 21st while driving for Kaulig at Darlington in mid-March, was initially scheduled to pilot Kaulig’s No. 25 Free Agent RAM 1500 entry for a second consecutive time at Rockingham. However, an announcement was made on March 20. With LaJoie now assuming the No. 10 entry, Ty Dillon will pilot the No. 25 entry at Rockingham.
As a result, Dillon, a Cup Series competitor for Kaulig, becomes the first driver to pilot Kaulig’s No. 25 Free Agent entry for a second time this season. He first piloted the entry at EchoPark Speedway in mid-February, finishing 11th. Thus far, both Dillon and LaJoie join Tony Stewart and Colin Braun as competitors who have driven the No. 25 entry through the first four scheduled events in 2026. The No. 25 entry is currently in 25th place in the owner’s standings.
The 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season continues with the Black’s Tire 200 at Rockingham Speedway on April 4, at 4:30 p.m. ET. on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.
