Dodge is going back to NASCAR’s top division. The Dodge NASCAR return was confirmed on November 2 at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, where the brand said it will race in the Cup Series again in 2027. Four days later, Kaulig Racing named its two drivers: AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon.
That ends a long absence. Dodge last raced a Cup car in 2012, and it left the series as the reigning champion. So this is not a brand starting from zero. Instead, it is a former title winner coming back after more than a decade on the sidelines.
Tim Kuniskis made the announcement. He is head of American Brands, SRT Performance and Direct Connection at Stellantis North America. “Everyone said it was impossible to get back in one year,” he said, according to the company’s release.
How the Dodge NASCAR return came together
According to Dodge’s November 2 announcement, Dodge SRT Racing leads the effort. Kaulig Racing, which already races for Ram, will serve as the anchor team for both Dodge and Ram. RACER adds that Dodge SRT Racing oversees all of the brand’s North American motorsports programs.
The timing surprised people. The Associated Press reported that Dodge is coming back a year earlier than first expected. When Ram re-entered NASCAR through the Craftsman Truck Series in 2026, the plan had pointed at the Cup Series in 2028. Now the brand joins Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota on a 36-race schedule that starts in mid-February.
Kaulig plans a two-car team that will debut at the Daytona 500, the AP said. NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell called the move “a significant milestone for the sport.” Meanwhile, engine supply remains one of the biggest open questions. RACER reported that ECR, the engine company of Richard Childress Racing, is rumored to be Dodge’s supplier, but nobody has confirmed it.
Allmendinger and Dillon get the seats
Kaulig made its lineup official at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 6. In the team’s lineup release, Kaulig called itself the flagship team for Dodge’s return. It also described a multiyear building phase rather than a one-season deal.
AJ Allmendinger, 44, returns to the No. 16. The Los Gatos, California, native has won in IndyCar, IMSA and NASCAR. He has also been Kaulig’s cornerstone driver since joining the team in 2019. His Cup wins for Kaulig came on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2021 and on the Charlotte Roval in 2023.
Ty Dillon, 34, continues in the No. 10. He comes from Lewisville, North Carolina, and he is a former ARCA Menards Series champion. In addition, he has won multiple times in the Truck and O’Reilly Auto Parts series, and he has made more than 300 Cup starts.
Team founder and owner Matt Kaulig called it “a landmark moment.” Similarly, CEO Chris Rice said 2027 lays “the foundation for our future.” Neither release names crew chiefs or sponsors yet, so those details are still to come.
Who Kaulig Racing is
Kaulig is a young team by NASCAR standards. Founded in 2016, it started as a single-car entry in what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Since then, it has collected 27 wins and two regular-season championships at that level, according to the team.
The team went full-time in the Cup Series in 2022. It has two Cup wins, two poles and playoff appearances there. Then, in 2026, it fielded five Craftsman Truck Series entries to support Ram’s return to NASCAR. Its truck drivers included Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie, Brenden “Butterbean” Queen and Timothy “Mini” Tyrrell.
That truck program matters here. It gave Kaulig a working relationship with Stellantis before the Cup deal. We covered the start of that effort when Ram announced its Truck Series comeback, and the Cup plan now builds directly on it.
Dodge’s Cup history, from 1953 to the Blue Deuce
Dodge won its first NASCAR Cup race in 1953, the company says. Later it stepped away, and its modern run began when it returned to Cup racing in 2001.
That modern run ended on a high note. In 2012, Brad Keselowski won the Cup championship for Team Penske in the No. 2 “Blue Deuce” Dodge Charger. Yet 2012 was also Dodge’s final Cup season. In fact, the AP noted that Dodge left NASCAR the same month it won the title.
The 2012 crown carried extra weight, too. According to the AP, it was Dodge’s first Cup championship since Richard Petty won his sixth of seven titles in 1975. As a result, the brand walked away at its peak. Now Dodge and Kaulig have one off-season to get a new Cup car ready.
What happens next: the December 4 reveal
Fans have not seen the 2027 Cup car yet. Because of that, every photo of a Cup Dodge right now shows an older car, such as Keselowski’s 2012 Charger. Dodge plans to show the new car’s livery at the 59th annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.
The reveal will stream on December 4 on FloRacing and the NASCAR Channel. That same night, Dodge will stage the “Dodge Sno-Brawl,” with celebrity drivers racing identically prepared Dodge Charger late models. The Snowball Derby itself dates to 1968, and it is a 300-lap Super Late Model race.
After that comes the real test. RACER’s report on the announcement and the AP’s story both point to the same starting line. Dodge’s first Cup race since 2012 will be the Daytona 500 in February 2027, with Allmendinger in the No. 16 and Dillon in the No. 10.
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