Denny Hamlin Eager to See RAM Trucks in NASCAR's Cup Series
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Stellantis' RAM Trucks announced its 2026 NASCAR Truck Series entry last weekend at Michigan. Veteran driver Denny Hamlin opened up on how that would benefit the sport's business model, and hoped to witness RAM scale up to the Cup Series in the future.
RAM's entry into NASCAR makes it the first OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) after Toyota, which introduced the Tundra in 2004. RAM unveiled its 1500 concept race truck, which will debut next year.
While plans for how it would go racing are yet to be decided, RAM's arrival in NASCAR sends a message to potential automakers contemplating entering the racing series. RAM CEO Tim Kuniskis revealed confidently that the team will be ready to race in Daytona. He said:
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Yahoo! Toyota, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 08, 2025 in Brooklyn, Michigan.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Yahoo! Toyota, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 08, 2025 in Brooklyn, Michigan."We'll be on track in Daytona in eight months, and the way we're going to do it is unlike anyone else."
Hinting that racing in the Cup Series remains RAM's ultimate goal, Kuniskis added:
"We're looking for a date to the prom right now. So how am I going to get to Cup? That's going to depend on how I get to Truck. So however we get to Truck is going to obviously weigh heavily on 'do I have a path to Cup?' Our intention is not to do a one-hit wonder and go to Truck and not to Cup. That's not our plan."
Hamlin, who won the Cup Series race last weekend at Michigan, admitted that the arrival of RAM as the fourth automaker in NASCAR improves the sport's business prospects. He told NASCAR on FOX:
"The burden really falls on the few manufacturers that you have. When you got 36 Cup teams and you got only three manufacturers, it's really hard for them to spread 100 percent of their resources to 10, 12 teams. They have to pick and choose where they spend those resources. The more manufacturers you have, the more money that flows down to the teams that would make the business model somewhat more viable."
Hoping for RAM's success so it can rise to racing the Cup Series, Hamlin added:
"I think it's the right thing for Dodge to do is to dip their toe back into NASCAR. Certainly, the Truck Series is the place to do that. You don't have to build your own engines. I think to oversimplify it, they got to build a body. They've all got common engines over there in the Truck Series. I don't know that they've got to spend a whole lot on setup technology and engineering. It's a lower price point probably for them to get their feet back into NASCAR and then see how this thing goes and hopefully build it up into the Cup Series."
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