There’s an old proverbial saying of “three steps forward and two steps back,” which seems to summarize the Kaulig Racing season so far in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) in 2026. The only thing that seems certain in racing is that unforeseen events can bring down the best in the business, and the Kaulig team is far from the best this year- so far. It’s only early April, and there’s plenty of races ahead, starting with Rockingham tomorrow late afternoon on Good Friday.
However, like a duck gracefully gliding across pond water, the Kaulig team no doubt has its feet kicking and paddling fast like a duck to stay afloat after self-inflicted driver wounds tarnished the team’s name (more about that later in this article) recently. Can this team kick it into fifth gear quickly and start taking care of the business of winning? Time will tell, but the 2026 clock is already ticking.
The 2026 season heralds the return of Ram trucks, with Kaulig Racing as the brand’s anchor.
The selection of Kaulig Racing as the anchor team to reinvigorate the Ram truck product starting this season in the NCTS should be a dream come true for any truck racing outfit affiliated with NASCAR. After all, NASCAR hasn’t seen any new original equipment manufacturers (OEM) since Toyota joined the truck series 22 years ago, and the absence of a major truck builder like Ram seemed like an odd situation to say the least. In addition to re-entering the Truck Series, Ram also brought back production of their celebrated 5.7-liter Hemi V8 engines as a nod to returning to NASCAR. Fans can see this Ram resurgence in action every time they catch the ubiquitous Ram truck commercials that are purposely over-the-top “Hell Yeah” nod to truck lovers and NASCAR fans alike.
Kaulig Racing is now the Ram factory team for 2026 and beyond.
In addition, Ram has pledged their support for Kaulig Racing as the “poster children” for their return to NASCAR with a nod to Kaulig as their official factory team. With this kind of support, Kaulig has a direct line to the Ram engineers and production staff for technical support and, more importantly, spare parts to keep a NASCAR team running each week. Since Kaulig has full-time entries in the Cup Series and three drivers in the O’Reilly Series, the expansion of this team into a potential juggernaut in the Truck Series is no doubt the goal, ultimately. With no less than five Ram trucks in the NCTS, Kaulig Racing is making a commitment to keeping the Ram brand at the forefront of NASCAR racing this season and into the future. Kaulig has three drivers so far finishing in the top ten in races up to this point, and betting the farm that partnering with Ram will pay dividends this season and into the future for both the truck manufacturer and for this racing team.
Kaulig Racing’s leap of faith with Ram trucks has brought its share of setbacks as well.
As I alluded to at the beginning of this article, Kaulig Racing is taking the leap of faith with Ram this season, and that journey carries plenty of pitfalls and perils along the way. With the social media controversy surrounding Daniel Dye and his subsequent suspension from the Kaulig team, the No. 10 truck has lost its driver for this season at a minimum. While Dye was in the middle of the pack so far this season in terms of the overall NCTS standings, leaving a truck in this Series without a driver opens up the rumor mills, as Kaulig represents both its team and Ram trucks every time they set foot on a NASCAR track.
When NASCAR hands you lemons, learn how to make lemonade – fast.
In order to keep a fleet of five full-time drivers in their seats for the 2026 Truck Series season, Kaulig Racing made a bold move by creating the driver each race of their number 25 truck as a “free agent.” In essence, this truck remains open to “guest” drivers who want some seat time in truck racing this year. With this novel concept, Kaulig Racing has been able to keep four drivers going (minus the issue with Dye) and still find a fill-in driver to round off the Kaulig race entry for each race this season. For the race in Rockingham this Friday, no less than veteran racer Ty Dillon will be stepping in to keep all of the Ram trucks in action. By utilizing the free agent concept, Kaulig plans to rotate both veterans and young racers in the number 25 truck each race, which, of course, generates more fan interest and keeps Ram trucks well represented each race night.
With the loss of Daniel Dye as a driver, Kaulig Racing had to scramble and find another driver to fill the number 10 truck seat for the rest of 2026. Corey LaJoie has been tapped to join the Kaulig team for the rest of the season and keep Ram in the mix each race week by keeping all five trucks with drivers. LaJoie brings experience and winning ways and has driven in all three NASCAR series. In addition, LaJoie may well be suited to be some sort of “reserve” driver for Kaulig in the O’Reilly and Cup series should the need arise.
Is the return of Ram trucks a sign of things to come in the other NASCAR series?
It’s probably way too early to assess whether Dodge will follow suit with Ram and jump back into NASCAR. While the addition of Ram trucks brings back another iconic American auto manufacturer to the racetrack, there are mixed reports that Dodge may want to re-enter the Cup or O’Reilly Series as early as 2027. Ram trucks are a logical choice to affiliate with the Truck Series; however, the elimination of the Challenger by Dodge leaves only the Charger platform to help rebrand Dodge back into NASCAR in the near future. NASCAR represents the epitome of traditional American stock car racing, and welcoming Ram and Dodge back into the racing fold makes sense from both an OEM standpoint and from a fan base standpoint as well.
