As Motorsport.com reports, Dodge is staging a massive comeback to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027, stepping back onto the grid as the fourth manufacturer alongside Chevrolet, Toyota, and Ford. This arrival lands a year earlier than most projections expected, creating a remarkably tight turnaround for the brand. The official announcement dropped on Monday evening at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, with the car scheduled for its public unveiling in December at the Snowball Derby.
To make this return happen, the manufacturer will partner with Kaulig Racing, a squad currently running Chevrolets at the Cup level. The operation also fields a fleet of five Ram 1500s in the Truck Series, a lower tier brought back by Stellantis ahead of the 2026 season.
"Everyone said it was impossible to get back in one year. We said, 'watch this,'" said Kuniskis. "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. LFG."
While not yet officially confirmed, the incoming Dodge entries are slated to utilize engines built by ECR, the powerhouse supplying Chevrolet engines to operations like Richard Childress Racing, Trackhouse Racing, and Kaulig Racing. Meanwhile, Kaulig is expected to keep its current driver lineup featuring A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 16 and Ty Dillon in the No. 10, with an official announcement anticipated during the Homestead race weekend. The team currently holds two wins in the Cup Series, both secured by Allmendinger at the Indianapolis Road Course in 2021 and the Charlotte Roval in 2023.
This comeback revives a rich history dating all the way back to 1950. Dodge claimed manufacturer titles in 1970 and 1975, while NASCAR legend Richard Petty piloted a Dodge to three of his seven Cup Series titles during the 1970s. More recently, Brad Keselowski captured the 2012 Cup title in a Dodge before the brand vanished from the grid when the Gen-6 car debuted in 2013, leaving the sport with just three manufacturers for more than a decade. Fortunately, the current Next Gen car architecture should ease the transition, allowing the brand to lean on NASCAR's extensive network of external suppliers rather than engineering every single component from scratch.
