Dale Earnhardt Jr. names biggest obstacle to Dodge success in NASCAR Cup Series

Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes Dodge will have a hard time making an immediate impact in the NASCAR Cup Series. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt revealed the biggest obstacle Dodge would deal with if it made the jump to the Cup series.

“The one thing that’s probably going to be the toughest part for the Dodge guys will be the engine,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “Maybe that comes together, and that works better than I think. I have no knowledge of information. But I just know that to bring their power plan into the Cup Series and it do everyting it needs to do and perform the way it needs to perform, NASCAR is going to keep a very tight leash on all of that so that they can’t come in and overpower everybody.”

Earnahrdt continued: “The other OEMs are going to go, ‘All right, man. You better hold them accountable. Hold them within the confines of the power and torque that we have.’ That’s a little stickier.”

Will Dodge make the jump to the NASCAR Cup Series?

Earnhardt’s co-host, TJ Majors, asked him if Dodge has immediate success in the Cup series, would that lead to more manufacturers having interest in NASCAR? “It’s too hard,” Earnhardt replied. “I don’t know that anybody can come brand new OEM and unload in the Cup series and be good.”

Dodge has no plans to enter the NASCAR Cup Series, as of now. Starting next year, Ram returns to the NASCAR Truck Series, and Kaulig Racing will be the anchor factory team. The plan is for Kaulig Racing to field up to five Ram trucks in the Truck Series when the 2026 season kicks off in February.

Last week, Kaulig president Chris Rice was asked if Ram went to the Cup Series, would Kaulig want to be the team fielding the car? “We haven’t really talked about it,” Rice stated. “I can just tell you what we did, as we talked through this, we wanted to be in the Truck Series somehow, another, but we couldn’t do it on Matt [Kaulig’s] money. Getting Ram as a partner was key.”