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Report: Dodge Is Returning to NASCAR in 2026
According to the NASCAR-centric website Catchfence.com, Dodge—by way of the Ram brand—is poised to return to NASCAR in 2026, via the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
“Catchfence.com has confirmed that NASCAR has received a formal submission from a manufacturer aiming to join Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota in the series next year. According to sources, Dodge is the leading candidate to return to the sport, marking a comeback after its 2016 departure with the Ram brand, though the manufacturer had withdrawn official support after the 2013 season.”
NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series was the way both Dodge and Toyota entered NASCAR, before working their way up to the Cup Series. Toyota has remained, Dodge has not. Craftsman Truck is certainly still the easiest way into NASCAR: Ram has a truck, and NASCAR made the spec Ilmor V-8 available to Truck and ARCA teams, so there’s no need to build your own engines. Just a body.
But if Dodge wants to be in the Cup Series, presumably racing the new Charger, it will have to have a new engine, and the Catchfence story claims, “Dodge is also searching for an engine manufacturer to provide power for a potential return to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2028.”
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After a long break, Dodge reentered the NASCAR Cup Series in 2001 at the Daytona 500 with the Intrepid, which would have made more noise had Dale Earnhardt not died in the race. Dodge bailed from the series in 2012 after its only full-time NASCAR team, owned by Roger Penske, switched to Ford for 2013.
In 2012, Brad Keselowski won five times for Dodge and Team Penske, narrowly taking the season title over Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson, in what was then called Sprint Cup. Keselowski was the first Dodge driver to win the championship since Richard Petty in 1975.
Driving for Dodge was sort of a homecoming for Keselowski, as his father, Bob, drove a Dodge in the Craftsman Truck Series from its very first points race, at Phoenix in 1995, as one of only two Dodges in the field (the other was driven by Joe Bessey.) Bob Keselowski retired from driving in 1999. Car and Driver once tested Bob’s Dodge NASCAR truck, recording the fastest 0-to-60 mph time the magazine had ever seen to that point.
We reached out to Dodge and Ram about the rumor: “We have nothing to announce,” said Rick Deneau, who is the head of Product and Brand Communications.
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They will do well with the Chevy Engines.
They should do well with the GM engines.
It won’t be in the Truck series. Dodge doesn’t make a truck, so they can’t legitimately file to return. I think theo article is clickbait.
Double take! They might do well with the xx engines?
Dodge on GM/Chevy engines to me is some sort of funny joke. No Mopar motors to run on at the moment? I would say why bother.
The truck series is using a spec engine like ARCA.
The NASCAR Truck Series uses the Ilmor NT1 V8 engine, which is a cost-effective alternative to built motors.
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The NT1 is an updated version of the 396 cubic-inch engine
Teams own the engine and send it to Ilmor for rebuilds every 1,500 miles
The NT1 has reduced overall budgets for teams
Ilmor says that its engines give teams and drivers the performance, reliability, and technical support needed for racing success
It saves money and gives a V8 to mfgs that don’t make a V8.
It is based on a race version of the engine.
OK, that explains it. I guess I want to see manufacturers duke it out but I can see keeping costs down helps.
In today’s age cost can kill a race series. IMSA has had several lives as has Trans Am.
Even F1 is looking to contain some costs.
Many truck teams are not big outfits.
Who cares
From a promotion stand point I get it in a way… though maybe just putting that money into more ads during the truck race might be…anyway. An all too often seen- Keep America Great Again- sticker on a Hyundai. Or maybe in this case a “Happiness is being Italian ” license plate holder on a Ram ?
It’s marketing and to be honest the trucks race like the 1980’s stock cars. They draft well and put on a better show.
If Dodge is returning, it wouldn’t be the truck series. Dodge doesn’t make a truck.
In the history of the truck it was Dodge then under the Chrysler reign they took the Dodge name off the dashboard and renamed the truck Ram now it is under the Stellantis umbrella so if it’s true it will be great to see the truck back again racing in NASCAR
I have a Dodge Dakota and a RAM D-150, these aren’t trucks?
Who cares
I would guess a Ram pickup owning Nascar fan would care.Maybe others wanting to see new rivalries between manufacturers.
Dodge never should have left NASCAR
Pointless- the car will not be a Dodge, and will have no Dodge parts except the paint job.
Just like all the other manufacturers.