Ram is officially moving back to NASCAR after leaving 13 years ago, the company announced.
The Ram brand said that it will begin its reentry in the NASCAR truck series, unveiling a newly developed Ram 1500 concept race truck in a black-and-red color scheme. Ram Brand CEO Tim Kuniskis announced the decision last week to reenter the market at a private media event, anticipating a public announcement at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, June 8, before the FireKeepers Casino 400 in Brooklyn, Michigan.
“We figured we might as well go back to racing, back to America’s motorsport, back to NASCAR,” Kuniskis said. “First with truck, with the intention to go to (NASCAR Cup Series) after that.”
The return to NASCAR marks the second time in a week that Kuniskis has decided to reverse course on previous decisions made by Ram. On Thursday, June 5, the brand announced it would be returning the HEMI engine to its 1500 pickup trucks one year after removing them.
While the truck shown to the news media is still officially a concept truck, Kuniskis said he expects a short timeline for a Ram vehicle to take to the tracks at a NASCAR race.
“We’ve been working on this for a while. That’s the real truck, we didn’t cobble that up,” Kuniskis said, gesturing toward the concept vehicle. “We’ll be on track in Daytona in eight months.”
In video advertisements, Kuniskis is depicted behind the wheel of the new race truck, though he said he won’t be the one racing Ram’s vehicles. In fact, Ram has yet to select a racing team.
“I got a truck. I got the attention. I’m writing a deal with NASCAR, I’m going to Daytona,” Kuniskis said. “How I’m actually going to do that? What’s my team going to be? How am I going to do it? I don’t know. We’re looking for a date to the prom right now.”
Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW. Contact him at LRappleye@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ram announces reentry to NASCAR Truck Series, unveils concept race truck to race this year
Reporting by Liam Rappleye, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
