A New Manufacturer Is Joining NASCAR For The First Time In Over Two Decades, And Another Is “Very Close”

A new manufacturer is joining NASCAR…but not really.

It’s been over two decades since there’s been a new car manufacturer join the sport, after Toyota entered the Craftsman Truck Series with their Toyota Tundra back in 2004 and made their entry into the Cup Series with the Camry in 2007.

Since 2012, NASCAR races have featured vehicles from only Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota. But next year that’s going to change, when Dodge brings their Ram trucks back to the Truck Series.

Dodge has a long history with NASCAR, making their debut in NASCAR’s top series in 1950 before winning their first race in 1954, with Lee Petty winning his first championship driving a Dodge (for part of the season) way back in 1954. But Dodge left NASCAR in 1977 following financial issues with parent company Chrysler, before finally returning to the Cup Series in 2001.

Their return to NASCAR in the early 2000s was a massive success thanks to teams like Team Penske and Evernham Motorsports. In fact they even won the Cup Series championship in 2012 with Penske and driver Brad Keselowski. But that same year, Penske – their flagship team, announced that they would be switching to Ford the following season, leaving Dodge without a major team to carry their flag.

Unable to recruit a team to join their camp, Dodge made the decision to leave NASCAR following the 2012 season – and left NASCAR with only 3 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Over the past few years, NASCAR has been vocal about hoping to recruit a new OEM into the sport, which has been used as a reason for not wanting to increase the horsepower (and thus the cost) in the Cup Series cars.

There’s been a lot of speculation recently that Dodge would be the next manufacturer to join NASCAR, and in recent days photos have leaked showing a Truck Series prototype of a Ram truck.

And today NASCAR and Dodge made it official, announcing that Ram trucks would be returning to the Craftsman Truck Series next year.

Ram announced that they will field at least four trucks in the Truck Series in 2026, with the goal being to eventually see Dodge make their return to the Cup Series.

Of course returning to NASCAR’s top series would mean that Dodge would have to convince a team or two to switch manufacturers, and we know that it won’t be Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske or Joe Gibbs Racing, which are each the top teams with their current manufacturers. But a team like Trackhouse Racing, which currently runs Chevys but is behind Hendrick when it comes to a priority for the manufacturer, seems like a natural fit to switch to a new manufacturer.

And they may have more than one option if they’re looking to become the top dog for a new OEM: According to NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer John Probst, another manufacturer (heavily rumored to be Honda) could soon be joining Dodge with making their entry into NASCAR.

“I don’t want to jinx ourselves, but I would say that we are very close with one other. Can’t speak for them. Obviously, it’s their decision to make. We would love for them to decide to come into NASCAR, and even with that, there’s one or two others that we’re a little bit earlier in the discussions, but also looking pretty positive.

But we all know that an OEM deciding to come into NASCAR, it’s a big commitment for them. It’s not something that they take lightly. It requires a lot of research and approval at the highest levels. We’re confident right now. We like the position we’re in, and think that we’re a pretty good investment for an OEM.”

It’ll still be a few years before we see another manufacturer in the Cup Series, but now that they’re signed to join the sport, hopefully that means NASCAR can now turn their attention to improving the racing in the Cup Series – and adding more horsepower.The post A New Manufacturer Is Joining NASCAR For The First Time In Over Two Decades, And Another Is “Very Close” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.