Courtesy of NASCAR.com
LAS VEGAS _ MOPAR fans, re-start your engines! Dodge will return to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027 with Kaulig Racing, the manufacturer confirmed during the 2026 SEMA Show.
The two-car team will field Dodge Chargers in the manufacturer’s re-introduction to NASCAR’s top level after a 14-year hiatus, following its departure after the 2012 campaign.
MORE: 2027 NASCAR Cup Series schedule
Brad Keselowski won the 2012 Cup championship driving a Dodge Charger fielded by Team Penske and earned the manufacturer its 217th and most recent win at the Cup level that fall at Dover Motor Speedway.
“Dodge’s return to the NASCAR Cup Series is a significant milestone for the sport,” NASCAR Chief Executive Officer Steve O’Donnell said Monday, Nov. 2. “This commitment speaks to Dodge’s belief in our sport and gives fans another reason to be excited about what’s ahead. The partnership between NASCAR, Tim Kuniskis and the entire team at Stellantis has been nothing short of phenomenal. They have a deep passion for NASCAR and its ability to showcase the world’s top brands, and we can’t wait to see Dodge on the racetrack for the Daytona 500 and beyond.”
John Probst, president of NASCAR Event Management, views Dodge’s re-entry as a signal both to the sport’s rising status as well as that of the automobile industry, particularly the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) currently participating. Dodge will re-join Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota as series partners.
“I think it shows not only the strength of the North American car market, but also the value that NASCAR plays with these OEMs in that market as the premier motorsports in North America,” Probst said during a Monday teleconference.
Dodge’s latest tenure in the Cup Series spanned 2001 through 2012 and featured 57 victories over that timeframe. Dodge’s return marked the first new manufacturer to enter NASCAR’s top series since 2007, when Toyota first entered Cup. Stellantis, Dodge’s parent company, re-entered NASCAR in 2026 by partnering with Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The organization fielded five full-time trucks and featured star drivers including three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart, 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 champion Jamie McMurray and 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman behind the wheel.
Dodge has been on a fast track to returning to the NASCAR Cup Series _ something Kuniskis, head of Stellantis North America’s American Brands, SRT Performance and Direct Connection division _ has fully embraced.
“Everyone said it was impossible to get back in one year. We said, ‘Watch this!’^” Kuniskis said in a press release. “Sure, we could spend three years planning, testing and perfecting…or we could do all three in real-time, on the track. It’s going to be exponentially harder this way. But slow has never been part of Dodge DNA.”
According to Stellantis, Kaulig Racing will serve as the anchor team to both Dodge and Ram, re-establishing “a factory-backed presence at the track” and creating a foundation for the next phase of the company’s commitment to American motorsports. Dodge SRT Racing will lead the manufacturer’s return to NASCAR. Dodge SRT Racing also oversees all the manufacturer’s North American racing efforts, including NASCAR, NHRA and elsewhere.
“This is a very exciting moment for (team CEO) Chris Rice and me,” Kaulig Racing owner Matt Kaulig said in a statement. “We launched Kaulig Racing a decade ago and have overcome so many challenges together, which makes it even more remarkable to be announced as the anchor team for Dodge’s return to the NASCAR Cup Series. What a monumental time to be a member of Kaulig Racing.
“We realize what a responsibility this opportunity presents to the men and women of Kaulig Racing, and we are ready to rise to the occasion. I am proud of the stability and support this partnership brings to our organization, which allows us to build a winning program for many years to come.”
Adding a fourth manufacturer alongside Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota has been a priority for NASCAR executives. Knowing Dodge will re-join the grid for Speedweeks 2027 at Daytona International Speedway is an accomplishment NASCAR’s Probst acknowledged as a work-in-progress.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about for a long time, and sometimes we talk about it so much and it didn’t happen that you almost feel like you lose credibility at some point,” Probst told NASCAR.com. “But it’s certainly a proud moment for us, for our industry to welcome Dodge back. And I think that’s the key _ welcome them back. And even through the process of looking at which OEM should we target, it was never a doubt that Dodge was always No. 1. Dodge belongs over here, and it’s good to welcome them back.”
The process to approve the body of Dodge’s Cup Series entries was no different than current OEMs submissions for new body panels, Probst added. The difference for Dodge, however, is that there was no previous template to modify.
“When an existing OEM submits a new model or a brand-new OEM submits a brand-new car, that involves about an 18-month process of CFD testing and wind tunnel testing,” Probst said. “And then once they fit in the box of the performance characteristics, we then go one step further and we get the actual production panels for that car and make sure that with the actual production panels, they’re still in the box. So that’s this exact same process that we went through with this one.”
Probst said Dodge and NASCAR have passed the wind tunnel portion of testing and that production panels should arrive in the middle of November, a part of the process Probst anticipates being a routine checklist item rather than any cause for apprehension.
MORE: History of Dodge in NASCAR
Details surrounding the expected engine configuration for Kaulig’s Dodges were not immediately revealed. “The engine that they will run is compliant with our rule book,” said Probst, opting to allow Kaulig and Dodge SRT Racing to announce its plans later.
While the plans to bring Dodge back to the Cup Series appeared to materialize quickly, Probst explained a years-long process that led to Monday’s announcement.
“It certainly looks like that, but I can tell you that it’s been a lot of trips to Detroit with Steve O’Donnell, (Chief Operating Officer) Ben Kennedy, myself, trying to talk to all these OEMs and show them the strength of our sport,” Probst said. “I think that also it shows that once an OEM makes the decision to get in, it really doesn’t have to take that long until they’re on the racetrack.
“So, I hope this is encouragement for some of the others that may be still looking to go ahead and just make the commitment because it can happen quicker than some of our OEMs have taken in the past.”
In a release, Stellantis stated that Kaulig Racing will announce its 2027 driver lineup at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the NASCAR Cup Series Championship will be awarded on Sunday (3 p.m. EST, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Dodge is scheduled to reveal the Charger Kaulig Racing will use to compete in the Cup Series on Friday, Dec. 4, during the 2026 Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., where the feature race is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 6. Coverage of the reveal will be live-streamed on FloRacing and the NASCAR Channel.
Dodge will also hold “The Dodge Sno-Brawl,” an event in which celebrity drivers will race head-to-head in equally prepared Dodge Charger Late Model stock cars with additional race details to be announced soon.
Dodge is slated to make its first points-paying start in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2012 when the 2027 season begins with the 69th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 21, on FOX, HBO Max, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
