![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SCA-1196-Wk1-Cat-BPO-Speedcafe_728x90.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIn the days before the most recent Sonoma round, New York Times publication The Athletic reported the Stellantis-owned car maker is looking \u201cincreasingly likely\u201d to re-enter stock car racing\u2019s top division.<\/p>\n
Dodge sister brand RAM returned to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this year via Kaulig Racing.<\/p>\n
The same team is also thought to be the top candidate for Dodge in the NASCAR Cup Series.<\/p>\n
According to the report, Dodge has already put its Challenger through wind tunnel testing and has made progress with an engine program.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Door Bumper Clear, Kaulig Racing boss Chris Rice was coy when the report was put to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you this, we would love to [partner with Dodge],\u201d said Rice.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would love for Dodge to do it but they have not committed to do it yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate everybody pushing Dodge to do it, I appreciate everybody talking about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would love to have them here. Yeah, absolutely.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre we working hard towards it? Absolutely. Bet you didn\u2019t think we were going to sit still as Kaulig Racing doing nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre they coming? Not as of today.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Team](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/156660476_10.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Team Penske performs a pit stop during the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series decider at Homestead-Miami Speedway.<\/p>\n
The Athletic\u2019s report claimed a breakthrough in engine development has enabled Dodge to bring its planned 2028 entry forward to 2027.<\/p>\n
Rice said an engine program is the biggest hurdle to overcome.<\/p>\n
Dodge walked away from NASCAR at the end of 2012 when Penske, the brand\u2019s engine builder, switched to Ford.<\/p>\n
Rice said the hurdles for Stellantis to enter NASCAR by way of the Truck Series were far easier to overcome given the use of a category-controlled Ilmor engine across all four brands.<\/p>\n
\u201cEngines are the problem,\u201d said Rice.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre they coming back to NASCAR? I can tell you on this show, Kaulig Racing, Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice, everybody at Kaulig would love to have them back \u2013 yes, immediately, as fast as we can go.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet them in the sport. It would be great for the sport. It would be great for Chevrolet, it would be great for Ford, it would be great for Toyota.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore people in here trying to sell cars would be great, but the engine is the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed Chevrolet has wound back its support for Kaulig Racing amid an impending manufacturer switch.<\/p>\n
\u201cAJ (Allmendinger) has talked about the lack of sim time, the lack of resources they have, since they\u2019re a \u2018Dodge\u2019 team,\u201d he said on his Dale Jr Download podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cChevrolet has taken back or pulled back some if not all of the support. That\u2019s going to be difficult and I think it\u2019ll get tougher if Chevrolet wanted to make it tougher.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is the likelihood of percentage of Dodge racing next year? I think it\u2019s really high.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaulig Racing currently has two charters to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series.<\/p>\n
Earnhardt Jr. said another team could conceivably make the switch to Dodge and bolster the brand\u2019s ranks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what I think happens \u2014 I think that Dodge gets their car ready, Kaulig goes into Daytona next year with Dodges,\u201d said Earnhardt Jr.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they will be the only Dodges. Maybe another team flips over, I don\u2019t know who would it might be.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would probably be a similar team like Kaulig, it\u2019s not going to be one of the bigger teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaulig fielded Shane van Gisbergen in a full-time O\u2019Reilly Series entry in 2024, as well as selected Cup races as part of a development deal with Trackhouse Racing.<\/p>\n
Supercars champion Will Brown\u2019s Cup and O\u2019Reilly starts in 2025 also came in Kaulig Chevrolets, before the team shut down its O\u2019Reilly program amid its RAM transition.<\/p>\n
Adelaide in talks to host NASCAR \u2018match racing\u2019<\/a><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski on track at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2012. In the days before the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,207848,806,805,803,804,6490,85],"class_list":["post-773733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dodge","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-slot3","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Dodge](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/brad-keselowski-atlanta-nascar-2012-copy.jpg\")