NASCAR Insiders react to RAM return Truck Series, hint at bigger announcement

Big news this week became official. Ram Trucks announced they are returning to the NASCAR Truck Series for 2026. There are a lot of question marks up in the air, but this is undoubtedly one of the best things to happen to the sport in a number of years.

The Truck Series will officially have four manufacturers for the first time since 2012. Of course, a couple of teams ran Ram Truck bodies until 2014 in the Truck Series. However, Stellantis, the parent company of the iconic American brand, is ready to make this investment a long-term one.

On the consumer side, the Hemi V8 is back in the Ram 1500. A full line of Hemis, actually. While the Truck Series news is great, there could be even better news just on the horizon for NASCAR following the Ram announcement.

NASCAR insiders, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic, talked about the big news after Sunday’s Cup Series race. The two journalists discussed the possible implications.

“It is great that Ram’s back,” Gluck said on The Teardown podcast. “It’s the first new manufacturer back in NASCAR in 20 years. That’s very exciting. I wish that they would have just made the announcement itself more exciting by not having all the leaks. Because again, it is big. … Let’s talk about why it’s important that Ram’s back. Why?”

Bianchi followed up with his take on the “Why?” behind the news. While there is a lot unknown about the future Ram team or teams in NASCAR, this is the first step. And, there could be more good news on the way.

“NASCAR has said that we need more manufacturers and part of the Next Gen car is getting more OEM support,” Bianchi said. “And here, what more OEMs do is one thing it raises the level of competitiveness to the garage. It injects money to mid-pack teams. We saw it when Dodge came in back in 2001. It elevates those teams up that go from second or third in those respective manufacturer camps to all of a sudden they’re P1 in that camp. It just raises the overall level of competitiveness.

“Plus there’s the marketing side, new OEM comes in, they spend a lot of money, they do things in the fan zone, they spend money in commercials, they help promote the sport. It also helps, the other OEMs want to see this as well because it pushes them to do better and to be more competitive. So, overall, across the board, in so many different facets, it is a great thing for NASCAR. This is a boon. We’ve heard for so long from NASCAR Leadership, we’re getting close to an OEM, we’re getting closer than ever. It’s kind of like their white whale.”

So, there is a bit of confusion for longtime motorheads and race fans. Dodge and Ram have been separate brands for many years now. Like, 16 years. Still, the two are synonymous in the minds of many consumers and motorsports fans.

“No, they’re saying, Ram is different than Dodge, right? They’re drawing a distinction by saying, ‘It’s not Dodge Ram anymore.’ It used to be Dodge Ram, right?” Gluck added. “Ram is different, it’s under the same company [Stellantis], and they’re brands under the same company. They’re not saying Dodge is coming back to Cup.”

While that might be true, Stellantis is heavily hinting at the desire to put Dodge in the Cup Series. The “intent” is to bring the brand back to the top tier of NASCAR.

“But their intent, they did say, ‘It is our intent,’ that was the word, ‘It is our intent.’ And there is, people I’ve talked to, there is almost an expectation that it is going to happen at some point,” Bianchi continued. “Whether they announce it today, tomorrow, or next year, is that some time in the not-too-distant future, you’re going to see a Dodge-branded car back in the Truck Series.”

So, it looks like we are bound to get more good news from Stellantis in the future. Dodge and Ram are iconic American brands, iconic NASCAR manufacturers. To have Ram back in NASCAR is fantastic, and in a couple of two or three years, we could see Dodge follow.