Ram’s NASCAR Return: Kaulig Racing Ready to Spearhead Historic Partnership

In a major development for NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series, Ram officially announced on Saturday its partnership with Kaulig Racing as the anchor factory team for the truck maker’s return to the sport. Starting February 13, 2026, at Daytona International Speedway, Kaulig Racing will field up to five Ram 1500 trucks, marking a significant new chapter for both organizations. This partnership represents more than just a business arrangement; it symbolizes a union of shared values between two organizations known for their unconventional approaches. “This partnership represents far more than a new chapter in Kaulig Racing’s history, it’s a union of shared values,” said Matt Kaulig, the Ohio-based entrepreneur who owns the racing team. “Over the past decade, our team has built a legacy rooted in performance, integrity, and giving back to the community. To now join forces as the anchor team for Ram’s return to NASCAR is both an honor and a responsibility.”

The announcement ends months of speculation within the NASCAR community about which team would partner with Ram following their June 8 announcement at Michigan International Speedway that they would return to the Truck Series. The Dodge brand, which later evolved into Ram as its own brand by 2010, was one of the founding manufacturers of the Truck Series before 1995 but had been dormant since closing shop in 2013. This return is particularly meaningful for racing fans who remember Ram’s earlier presence in the sport. As Matt Kaulig humorously recalled the period before the announcement: “Walking around the garage, you can’t even say anything. And everyone’s trying to guess like, ‘Who’s the team? Is it you guys?’ We’re like, ‘No, is it you?’ So, just to be able to get it out in the open and get rolling, that’s been the biggest thing.”

What makes Kaulig Racing the perfect fit for Ram’s return? According to Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis, they “needed a partner that truly aligns with the Ram brand and embraces our unconventional approach to NASCAR.” Ty Norris, Kaulig Racing’s chief business officer with over three decades of NASCAR experience, explained the synergy: “When we met with Tim and Nate in Auburn Hills, Michigan, they told us not everyone is gonna want to market like we are and take on this responsibility. As they were looking at multiple teams, Kaulig Racing became the team that fit all the pieces.” What particularly appealed to Ram was Matt Kaulig’s youth (relative to other team owners at 52), his financial means, his passion for the sport, and his nontraditional approach to racing and business. Kaulig himself summed up the partnership’s essence in characteristic straightforward style: “It’s American bada–.”

Kaulig Racing’s meteoric rise in NASCAR makes this partnership all the more remarkable. Having debuted less than a decade ago in 2016 in the Xfinity Series, the team didn’t even have a race shop when it began. Yet Matt Kaulig, who built his gutter-protection business LeafFilter into a multimillion-dollar company from his garage, has transformed his racing passion into a formidable NASCAR presence with 27 Xfinity wins and two Cup Series victories. Now, the team aims to make history by winning in all three NASCAR series. “I don’t know how many teams in the history of NASCAR have won in all three series,” Kaulig said. “So, that’s a really big goal for me and our organization. We’ll win again and be successful in those series as well, but to do it in the Truck Series now with Ram and bringing in all the excitement and drama that goes along with that, it’s fun. It’s going to be an absolute blast.”

The challenge of fielding up to five trucks in a new series is substantial, but the Kaulig Racing team approaches it with their signature aggressive mindset—what they call “the Kaulig Way.” Team president Chris Rice, who has experience operating Truck Series teams, embraces this philosophy: “If you’re not growing, you’re dying. That’s kind of the motto we talk about. To get our name out there, Kaulig Racing, it’s awesome for our company and for what Matt does. This is what he believes in, being entrepreneurial. They tell us we can’t do it? Let’s show them we can.” Rice emphasizes that the key to success will be people and teamwork: “It boils down to people, and the way we do it at Kaulig Racing is we’re family. Everybody works on everything. You’re not just on the truck team, you’re on the Kaulig Racing team. The Kaulig way is tough because we are aggressive. You gotta believe it, you gotta eat it, you gotta breathe it, you gotta sleep it.”

Both organizations recognize the weight of responsibility that comes with this partnership, particularly in reintroducing the Ram brand to the NASCAR fan base. “We need to present ourselves correctly and there’s a lot of responsibility in carrying that brand with us,” Norris explained. “When a company this size, a great American company in that blue-collar approach to everything, there’s a responsibility to take that brand and reintroduce it to the NASCAR fan base.” Yet for Kaulig, the excitement outweighs the pressure: “It is more fun, to me, than it is responsibility. We’re full of responsibility and full of responsible people, so I’m not worried about that part of it. It’s just the fun of building a business.” As the countdown to February 2026 begins, the Kaulig Racing team is already hard at work preparing for this historic return to the track. As Chris Rice succinctly put it, capturing the spirit of this new era: “This is all about family, all about fun, and all about winning races. That’s what we want to get back to: winning races and trophy hunting. It’s just a new era of trophy hunting in the Truck Series.”