Dale Earnhardt Jr. has reacted to Tony Stewart’s upcoming return to NASCAR. The 54-year-old confirmed that he will be returning to the NASCAR Truck Series with Kaulig Racing at Daytona in February, with the team partnering with Ram.

Amazingly, this will be the first time Stewart has raced a truck at Daytona. “I’ve raced just about everything with four wheels at Daytona, but never a truck. So when a seat in the new Ram was offered up for their first race back in NASCAR, I didn’t hesitate,” the three-time NASCAR Cup champion said at the time of the announcement.

“Ram’s Free Agent program is another great way for me to stay sharp and have a little fun.”

Earnhardt discussed the recent announcement during the Dale Jr. Download podcast.

“He hadn’t been in NASCAR since 2016, and this will be his first Truck race since 2005,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Boy, he picked a doozy. The dude don’t give a s**t. I wouldn’t have picked Daytona; I would have picked somewhere else. It must be writing him a nice check.”

He added: “This is what Dodge wants to do. They want to create noise, they want to create a splash. This doesn’t work for Dodge just by building trucks, cars going out, and winning races. They need the story, they need to be the big deal on social media, they need everybody talking about this.

“That is the way that they’ll get their board and everybody at Dodge to help support financially what’s going to be required for them to get all the way back through the Cup Series.”

Tim Kuniskis, head of American brands, SRT performance, NA marketing and retail strategy at Stellantis, added of Stewart’s upcoming outing:

“We’re not just returning to the track; we’re rewriting the playbook. Bringing Tony in as the first Free Agent will generate a crazy amount of excitement, which is exactly why we created the program — allowing fans to watch an all-time favorite driver get back into the seat, but this time, it’s a Ram truck. This is about honoring a legacy. Tony represents grit, determination, and the spirit of racing — pure adrenaline for the fans.”

Over his career, Stewart has raced in the NASCAR Cup , O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Truck Series, IndyCar, and most recently, the NHRA. After closing the Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR team, co-founded with Gene Haas, in 2024, Stewart took a seat with his Tony Stewart Racing NHRA team in the Top Fuel class.