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Ram is part of Stellantis, which also owns Dodge. The last time Dodge participated in a NASCAR race was in 2012. Since Truck Series races are limited to 36 trucks, NASCAR has instituted a new OEM rule. It guarantees up to four additional starting positions for Ram for the first three races of the season, in the event of failing a qualifying event. This means there could be up to 40 trucks in the first three races of the year. And Dale Earnhardt Jr.<\/a> was not happy about this.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I were a new OEM I would reject this provision and demand to earn my spot,\u201d the veteran wrote on X. The change effectively means that if any of Kaulig Racing\u2019s four trucks fail to qualify, they are still locked into the race. Besides Dale Earnhardt Jr., actor-turned-racer Frankie Muniz<\/a> also voiced his disapproval. \u201cSo pathetic,\u201d the driver of the Reaume Brothers Racing Ford said.<\/p>\n The rule resembles the Open Exemption Provisional instituted in 2025, and that had also attracted backlash. Four-time IndyCar champion Helio Castroneves got into the Daytona 500 even after failing to qualify. Now, as Ram seeks to utilize NASCAR\u2019s extra help, a wave of discontent is ruling the crowd. Nevertheless, the top brass is not bothered, as the plan is to extend this rule to the Cup Series as well.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cIf Dodge shows a return to the Cup Series, I won\u2019t be surprised if we see something like this again when that happens,\u201d Forde continued. \u201cSo I think this was some learnings from 2007 and even earlier. Like I said, to track new OEMs and make their entry into the sport a little bit smoother.\u201d<\/p>\n And preparations to scale up from Trucks are already underway with a star on board.<\/p>\n Wooing the cream of the sport<\/p>\n Ram announced its NASCAR arrival in June 2025. And clearly, the ambitious quotient of the OEM has been unmatched with its exciting announcements. For instance, Kaulig Racing\u2019s 5th Ram Truck seat will go to the winner of a reality-show competition. While this will throw the spotlight on several upcoming drivers, one person will stand out. That is none other than four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The 54-year-old racer, who presently competes full-time in the NHRA, will compete in the season-opening truck race at Daytona International Speedway. He will wheel the No. 25 Ram Truck, marking his first race in NASCAR since 2016. One reason for choosing Stewart was his 19 wins across a variety of series in Daytona. Another reason pertains to Ram\u2019s greater plans.<\/p>\n Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis hopes he can bring back Dodge to the Cup Series in 2027-28. \u201cWe\u2019re not just returning to the track; we\u2019re rewriting the playbook,\u201d Kuniskis said. \u201cBringing Tony in as the first \u2018free agent\u2019 will generate a crazy amount of excitement. Which is exactly why we created the program \u2014 allowing fans to watch an all-time favorite driver get back into the seat. But this time, it\u2019s a Ram truck.\u201d<\/p>\n With a comprehensive plan ahead, Ram is a packing a lot of heat. Let\u2019s see how the OEM performs as its seat is assured in the first three races of 2026.<\/p>\n The post NASCAR Owns the Controversial OEM Rule That Left Dale Earnhardt Jr. Fuming<\/a> appeared first on EssentiallySports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the new employee hogs the boss\u2019s attention, things may not be so pleasant. As Ram prepares for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,14056,634,102255,172116,82],"class_list":["post-420845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dale-earnhardt-jr","tag-nascar","tag-oem","tag-ram-truck","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/43f9d80d7a242984ffe95177161402d5.jpeg\"\/)
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