{"id":470447,"date":"2026-02-12T15:44:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470447\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:44:21","slug":"hall-of-fame-driver-tony-stewart-and-ufc-boss-dana-white-are-leading-ram-back-into-nascar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470447\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall of Fame driver Tony Stewart and UFC boss Dana White are leading Ram back into NASCAR"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Tony Stewart<\/a> is breaking his NASCAR retirement to drive a Ram truck for the first time at Daytona. UFC boss Dana White<\/a> is along for the ride.<\/p>\n

Also on board? The winner of a competition-based reality show in which drivers competed for a seat at Kaulig Racing in NASCAR\u2019s Truck Series.<\/p>\n

Ram\u2019s re-entry to NASCAR for the first time since 2012 is certainly about competing for wins, testing the waters for a Cup Series return and plugging the product.<\/p>\n

For Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis, the comeback is just as much about the \u201ccraziness we\u2019re trying to bring to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ram will race in the third-tier Truck Series alongside rivals Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota. Ram becomes the first new manufacturer to enter NASCAR at the national level since 2007. Kaulig Racing will be Ram\u2019s anchor partner this season, which opens Friday night at Daytona International Speedway. <\/p>\n

Ram eschewed the traditional path toward finding a driver for its lineup as it promoted its path back to NASCAR.<\/p>\n

Ram and Kaulig launched \u201cRace for the Seat,\u201d an eight-episode reality series that featured 15 drivers competing for a spot on the race team. Ram also announced a partnership with TKO Group \u2014 better known as the parent company of UFC, WWE and PBR.<\/p>\n

White said he\u2019s pitched almost daily to partner up with some entrepreneurial start up or to have his One Thrill company help raise brand awareness. He almost always says no.<\/p>\n

When Kuniskis reached out to White early last year, the idea of a reality show seemed appealing: UFC\u2019s growth early this decade was spurred in part by the \u201cThe Ultimate Fighter\u2019s\u201d success and other shows such as the \u201cContender\u201d series have played a crucial role in turning the MMA company into a billion-dollar business.<\/p>\n

White said it was a no-brainer to bring the concept to NASCAR.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best always rise to the top,\u201d White said. \u201cThe format works. You always find the best guys in the world when you\u2019re doing it. That\u2019s basically what I sold Tim on.\u201d<\/p>\n

TKO and Ram have a five-year deal in place, and the show required Kaulig\u2019s participation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the only thing that\u2019s more expensive than going racing is general marketing and advertising,\u201d Kuniskis said.<\/p>\n

The YouTube series topped 400,000 views for each of the first three episodes \u2014 a solid start in numbers White said can blow up over time much as they did with his backing for Power Slap. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we want to do is get people into the NASCAR Truck racing series that have never seen it before,\u201d said White, who was expected to attend the race. \u201cOnce there\u2019s a rooting interest, you want to see if this guy can actually win Daytona.\u201d<\/p>\n

Timothy \u201cMini\u201d Tyrrell emerged as the \u201cSeat\u201d winner and will join the No. 14 Ram in the Trucks race that includes Brenden \u201cButterbean\u201d Queen, Daniel Dye and Justin Haley. Stewart \u2014 a NASCAR Hall of Famer and three-time Cup champion \u2014 will make a spot start Friday as part of Ram\u2019s free-agent program.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody that comes in at this point is going to be at a disadvantage right now,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take a huge investment. It\u2019s going to take a huge support system and a lot of manpower to get the program in place. Just to get it in a state where it\u2019s just competitive when it first hits the racetrack is going to be a monumental task.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ram\u2019s return is eased in by new rules guaranteeing a spot in the first three races if one of the trucks fails to qualify on speed. Those trucks will be assigned starting grid positions 37-40. They will earn points but not prize money. After three races, the trucks will need to make the race through the traditional qualifying round.<\/p>\n

The Ram partnership marks the first time Kaulig Racing has competed in the Truck Series. Matt Kaulig began his NASCAR ownership in 2016 in the Xfinity Series before expanding to Cup in 2021.<\/p>\n

Ram could eventually join Kaulig or another interested team in Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have every intention to want to get there,\u201d Kuniskis said.<\/p>\n

Oh, one more thing of note \u2014 please, just call the trucks Ram. The brand is run by Stellantis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually Ram that\u2019s going back to NASCAR,\u201d Kuniskis said. \u201cEverybody else in the world calls it Dodge Ram.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP auto racing: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/auto-racing<\/a><\/p>\n

Dan Gelston, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Tony Stewart is breaking his NASCAR retirement to drive a Ram truck for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-470447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470447","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=470447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}