NASCAR Executive Says New Manufacturer May Join In 2027 … Is It Dodge?
NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer was on the stand on Wednesday during the antitrust trial the series was embroiled in, prior to settlement being reached on Thursday.
During his testimony, Probst said that NASCAR has spent $14 million to date developing the seventh generation Next Gen Cup Series car that launched in 2022 and spends $2.5-$3 million annually on updates.
The car was originally concieved to improve safety and reduce costs, but some teams have argued that it has proved to be more expensive to run that the previous sixth generation car.
The cost for each Next Gen car is roughly $350,000 and top teams say they spend $20 million per car number to run the full season, not counting the driver’s salary. Probst said he thinks the $20 million claim is high.
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Another hope for the car, which is designed to be more like a modern production sports car with a realistic body, low profile tires and a fully independent suspension, was that it would attract additional manufacturers to the sport and Probst said he is optimistic that one will join in 2027.
He didn’t say what automaker he was talking about, but all signs point to Dodge. Ram is rejoining the Truck Series in 2026 and. While the Truck Series has much lower cost and technical barriers to entry than the Cup Series, Tim Kuniskis the head of the American Stellantis brands including Ram and Dodge, has said the intent is to enter the Cup Series at some point. Honda has also been mentioned as a candidate recently, but is less likely than Dodge to be able to get a program ready in the next year.
While many of the sport’s observers think 2027 is an ambitious timeline to get a new car ready, the modularity of the Cup Series chassis should make it easier than designing something from the ground up, but teh engine program that needs to go with it could prove to be more of a challenge. The Truck Series uses a spec engine and an existing chassis design, so Ram basically just needed to design a body.
Ram is teamed up with Kaulig Racing in the Truck Series. Kaulig has dropped its Xfinity Series (which has been renamed the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series for 2026) program, and will continue to run Chevys in the Cup Series, but has ended its technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing and will not have direct factory support, so it will likely be looking to bring Dodge on board as soon as possible.
During a recent appearance on American Cars And Racing’s The GAS podcast, Kuniskis wouldn’t confirm a time frame for Dodge’s entry, but said “I will tell you, there is no way we could bring somebody of the the talent and caliber level of Kaulig without a 100% sincere intention to go to Cup. They wouldn’t do it, there’s no way.”
“That’s not a 100% guarantee, because it is difficult to do and it takes a long time, there’s a lot of stuff,” he said. I’m not trying to hedge you, that is our intent, we want to do that.”
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