Auburn Hills — There’s a buzz of excitement again down the long corridors of Stellantis headquarters off Interstate 75.
Make that a roar. Ram 1500 truck sales have surged 25% this year with the reintroduction of popular V-8 engines, and the brand is making sure you hear them on the racetrack as well.
Ram’s V8-powered NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series quartet of drivers were greeted by a wave of employees on their visit to headquarters this month. Ahead of their June race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, they came to celebrate Stellantis’s return to the motorsports series for the first time in 12 years — and to making the muscle trucks customers love.
Motorsports is integral to Detroit Three automakers for tech transfer, marketing and morale. Rival General Motors Co. jumped into motorsports with both feet in the wake of the 2008 bankruptcy, and Stellantis is following a similar playbook. After Ram and Dodge struggled through punishing government fines and powertrain electrification, a change in management at EPA and in Auburn Hills has given new life to the flag-waving brands.
“We’ve been on a tear for months — bringing Hemi (V-8) back where it belongs, pulling the SRT band back together, launching TRX, dropping the Rumble Bee, and charging back into America’s motorsport,” said Tim Kuniskis, Stellantis’ head of American brands, ticking off new V-8 models. “This team hasn’t just been busy, they’ve been grinding nonstop and delivering.”
In NASCAR trucks, it’s a steep climb to be competitive, but the Ram team posted their best (sixth and seventh) result this year in San Diego last weekend in the rock ‘em sock ‘em series.
(Our resurrection) isn’t limited to internal efforts,” said Kunsiskis, a hot shoe with a garage-full of muscle machines. “Kaulig Racing built up a five-truck team in months, not years — moving with the same ‘last tenth’ mindset that drives everything we do at Ram.”
‘Really important for the brand’
Together with Kuniskis — a natural showman with boundless energy — Kaulig manages a team of five diverse drivers from veterans to eager rookies to the so-called Free Agent, a revolving celebrity seat occupied by superstars like Tony Stewart and Travis Pastrana.
“This is really important for the Ram brand,” said veteran motorsports writer and Hagerty Special Projects Editor Steven Cole Smith. “Kuniskis has done a really good job of re-energizing — not only Ram — but Stellantis in general. (They’re) back in NASCAR and it’s resonated with the fans. There is a lot of buzz.”
At the team’s core are four full-time drivers — Corey LaJoie (#10), Brenden “Butterbean” Queen (#12), Timothy “Mini” Tyrrell (#14), and Justin Haley (#16) — who know that, like Stellantis, they have a rare opportunity to make a splash.
“Justin and I had a very similar Cup career, where we never really got a chance to drive for OEM (short for Original Equipment Manufacturer, aka, manufacturer-backed) teams,” said Charlotte-based veteran LaJoie, 34. “None of the teams we drove for were OEM-backed. This is the first time in my career that I’ve been in a place where the OEMs invested. That’s why the ceiling is so high with what this opportunity is. It’s cool to be a part of getting to that ceiling.”
The ceiling was close last weekend.
In a wild race on Qualcomm Circuit — set up on the grounds of San Diego’s Coronado Naval Base — veteran Haley and rookie Queen brought home season-best 6th and 7th place finishes in their 13th race (of 25) of the season.
“I don’t even know what happened at the end — sparks flying, people wrecking, staying in the throttle. I was running out of fuel the entire last lap,” said race winner Layton Riggs of the veteran Ford team.
Catching up with rivals
Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota have been powerhouses in the NASCAR series while Ram is just getting its sea legs again. It’s just how the scrappy Auburn Hills-based brand likes it.
“Leading up to the NASCAR Michigan race was the perfect moment to bring both teams together, celebrate how far we’ve come, and light the fuse for what’s next,” said Kuniskis of his team when they visited HQ earlier this month.
Said driver Queen after a day of signing autographs: “It’s really cool to come here and see the people that put the product out there and give us the reason for racing.”
For Kuniskis and his warriors, the NASCAR series is emblematic of a company on the comeback trail. It’s an echo of the trail that GM set foot on 15 years ago as it emerged from bankruptcy and the Great Recession.
“We hadn’t raced for a while, so exiting bankruptcy, it was really important,” GM President Mark Reuss told The Detroit News last June after his Cadillac team swept the front row of qualifying for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “(It) was a big deal for us to have (employees) feel good about the company and felt like we could win again.”
Aligned with Charlotte-based Kaulig Racing, Stellantis is on a comeback trail with an eye on returning to the top of the NASCAR Cup series with Dodge.
“They’ve been able to get into the truck series cheaply and quickly,” Cole Smith said. “They haven’t won a race yet, but before the year is out, you’ll probably see a Ram at the front of the field.”
Ram + Hemi + racing = resurgence
The drivers have a lot of respect for Kuniskis for the passion he brings to motorsports.
“I’m fascinated by his resurgence of the brand,” LaJoie said. “It’s cool to be part of it, because it seems like he’s just getting his feet back under for the little time he’s been back, and he’s already starting to make some waves. (It’s) nice to see, you know, Rams sales up, I’ve seen double digits lead market share, so that has a lot to do with that guy’s vision, and where he’s, where he’s not scared to take it.”
Kuniskis is taking motorsports learnings full circle back into the Ram model line. The new, three-model Rumble Bee street truck lineup brings NASCAR truck attitude to the showroom: lowered chassis, sinister grill, powerful V-8s.
Kuniskis introduced the sub-brand at NASCAR’s Richmond Raceway in a wild, tire-burning video shoot that included the American Brands chief and NASCAR legend Tony Stewart (Ram free agent truck driver at Daytona last February) going wheel-to-wheel on the bankings.
At Auburn Hills HQ, LaJoie was eyeing one of the Rumble Bees on display: “I was just checking that red one out downstairs. I love that thing, man.”
Driver Tyrell drives his company Ram 1500 as a daily driver.
“It’s important for brands like Ram to have (a leader like Kuniskis) who likes cars and likes trucks, and changes their own oil,” said Tyrell. “Since the day I met him on the show, it was like he was pumped up, he’s ready to go, he’s ready to get back into NASCAR. He’s either all in or he’s out, so it’s cool to have him all in with what we’re doing.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Racing helps restore Ram’s roar, drives resurgence, sales gains
Reporting by Henry Payne, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Henry Payne, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
