(AP) – Ram will return to NASCAR next year in the Truck Series, a comeback the Stellantis-owned brand believes is the first step toward launching a stock car program in the top Cup Series.
Ram, which left NASCAR after the 2012 season, 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.
Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis made the NASCAR announcement Sunday before the Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. Kuniskis has bold goals and ideas — he’s vowed to make 25 product announcements over 18 months — and he said Ram will enter its trucks aggressively with the intention to be disruptive.
“The way we’re going to do it is unlike anyone else,” Kuniskis said. “The reason that we’ve been out of NASCAR for 12 years is a very tough (return on investment); it is a very tough business decision to make. But when we say we’re back, when we say nothing stops Ram, when we bring the Hemi (engine) back, when we bring some of the other stuff that we haven’t shown you, it makes perfect sense to be back in the space and back up.”
Kuniskis said Ram will tap into NASCAR’s estimated fan base of 20 million “and turn it into 80 or 100 million.”
“We have a plan. We know how we’re going to do it. We think we have a path to get to that. We think people are going to like the way we’re doing it because it’s going to be fun,” he said. “Not ready to share all the details with you yet, but I told you that the experiential piece was going to be just a little bit of how we’re doing it. It’s going to get crazier from there.”
Ram raced out of the starting gate by using the Cup race at Michigan, which is just 90 minutes away from automotive capital Detroit, to announce its return. Ram staged a demonstration of its truck on the frontstretch before the start of Sunday’s race.
Kuniskis anticipates having four to six trucks at Daytona for the opener next February.
John Probst, NASCAR senior vice president and chief racing development officer, indicated Ram may not be the first announcement of a new manufacturer, with talks continuing with other brands. NASCAR last welcomed a manufacturer into the Truck Series in 2004 with Toyota.
“We’re excited that they (Ram) have interest in the Cup Series,” Probst said of Stellantis. “I don’t want to jinx ourselves, but I would say we are very close with one other (manufacturer). Even with that, there’s one or two others that we’re a little bit earlier in the discussions.
“We all know that a (manufacturer) 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 a (manufacturer).”
Stellantis features 14 automotive brands, including Dodge and Chrysler. Dodge raced in NASCAR through the 2012 season and left the same month it celebrated the Cup title with Brad Keselowski and Penske Racing.
“We have cars in our company,” Kuniskis said.
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