HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The next phase in Dodge’s multi-stage re-entry into the NASCAR Cup Series now has two names atop the driver’s side doors.
Kaulig Racing officials said Friday that AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon will return to the organization next year, announcing the personnel move during NASCAR Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The news, coming on the heels of Monday’s splash that Dodge will be back in NASCAR’s top division, confirms the first two drivers for the manufacturer in 2027.
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Allmendinger will be back for his seventh Cup season at Kaulig and Dillon will return for his third straight under the team’s banner. Next season, though, Allmendinger’s No. 16 and Dillon’s No. 10 rides will switch from Chevrolet Camaros to Dodge Charger branding.
Other announcements are forthcoming, including details of an engine configuration and a reveal of the new body style. Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Race said both are scheduled to be unveiled Dec. 4 during the Snowball Derby for Late Model cars in Pensacola, Florida.
Parent company Stellantis came back to the Craftsman Truck Series this season with the Ram marque, with Tim Kuniskis, Stellantis’ head of American brands, hinting that the Cup Series was part of the automotive group’s plans. Kaulig Racing launched a Truck Series operation with a five-Ram effort to lead that manufacturer’s return, but the ambition has produced just one top-five finish this season.
Both Allmendinger and Dillon took turns competing in Kaulig’s No. 25 Ram this year as part of the Free Agent Driver Program, a rotating cast of notable guest drivers that Rice said will continue next year. On the Cup Series side, Allmendinger ranks 25th in the standings with Dillon 34th. Allmendinger has posted the team’s lone top five this year, a fifth at Naval Base Coronado near San Diego.
Allmendinger accounts for both of Kaulig’s wins since it broke into the Cup Series in 2020, and piled up 16 of his 18 career O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victories with the Matt Kaulig-owned organization in what’s been a successful second act to his NASCAR journey. The 44-year-old veteran called the reinventing of his career “all a bit of a bonus,” all while acknowledging the challenge ahead for welcoming in a new automaker.
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“I think this for Kaulig Racing more than anything is … a huge deal is an understatement,” Allmendinger said. “We’ve talked about it probably at nauseum this year about the struggles that we’ve had to go through, and next year won’t be easy. It’ll be a different set of struggles, but I think at least there’s a pathway, a light at the end of the tunnel that you’re working towards, and you have a company like Dodge that you can work together with to try to achieve those goals and to be a part of it.”
Dillon, 34, has found some continuity at Kaulig in what’s been a journeyman’s career spanning different stints across all three NASCAR national series. Virtually the entirety of his time in stock-car racing has been spent with Chevrolet, a nod to grandfather Richard Childress’ longtime association with the brand, but he was eager to establish roots as a component of Dodge’s return.
“It’s just been a part of my life and my career is just never giving up, but when you work with a great team like Kaulig Racing, they fill you with that energy to continue to go,” Dillon says. “The ups and downs don’t come without people helping you along the way, too, and this is another one of those chances that I see as being a part of a Tier 1 team. Never been a part of that kind of information in my career ever, and it’s an opportunity, and now it’s time for me to make the most of that opportunity.”
Dodge’s presentation at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas fit the mold of glitzy activations that have followed Ram’s Truck Series return. “It’s time to drop the hammer, again,” was the company line, one that Matt Kaulig has tried to adopt in recent months.
“We feel like we’re an extension of how they are,” Kaulig said. “I mean, they want to be a bunch of badasses, and they want to make a big splash, and they want to be different, and that’s how we want to be.”
With two teams set, Rice said the organization was hopeful to field a third Dodge entry in the season-opening Daytona 500 next year. Rice said the team has made no movement considering the looming free agency of Brad Keselowski, Dodge’s last Cup Series champ who is departing RFK Racing after Sunday.
“We would love to run a third car at Daytona,” Rice said. “There are some stipulations that we have to go through with Dodge and Matt to be able to make that work. We do want to run one. Honestly, we have not talked about Brad Keselowski other than what we see on social media and we see everyone else, so we haven’t had that conversation. But we would love to run a third car.”
Rice also said that Mini Tyrrell, winner of Ram’s “Race for the Seat” competition for the team’s No. 14 ride, will be competing in his last race for Kaulig in Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series finale after his one-year contract was not reviewed.