Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice has revealed the major hurdle Dodge must overcome before they return to the NASCAR Cup Series.

After Ram made the decision to compete in the Truck Series in 2026, a report last week claimed that Dodge could be set to make a stunning return to the Cup Series in 2027.

Their ambition to do so has always been a long-term plan, but Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic claimed that the team had made progress in key areas, such as their body undergoing initial wind tunnel testing and a breakthrough in terms of how they would produce their engines.

Kaulig Racing was touted as the most likely team to run Dodge cars next year if they did return, given the existing relationship in the Truck Series, but Rice says that nothing is confirmed as of yet.

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Chris Rice on Dodge's Cup Series return

"Well, I'll tell you this: we would love for Dodge to do it, but they have not committed to do it yet,” Rice said on the Door Bumper Clear podcast.

“It's a lot of fun. I appreciate everybody pushing Dodge to do it. I appreciate everybody talking about it.

“We would love to have them here, yes, absolutely. Are we working hard towards it? Absolutely. But you didn't think we were going to sit still as Kaulig Racing just doing nothing.

“Are they coming? Not as of today.”

Engines biggest hurdle for Dodge

Rice continued, later revealing that needing their own engine was the biggest hurdle Dodge had to overcome before they could make their return to NASCAR’s top division.

“Engines are the hold-up,” Rice added. “In NASCAR you're supposed to have, you know, your engine in a car.

"Well, the only reason Dodge left, not many people know this, is they didn't have the engine. If you remember back, Penske went to Ford, Penske was building engines, they had no engine and nowhere to go. They were done.”

Rice concluded: “I can tell you on this show right now, Kaulig Racing, Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice, everybody at Kaulig would love to have them back, yes, immediately, as fast as we can go. Get them in the sport.

“It would be great for the sport. It would be great for Chevrolet. It would be great for Toyota. More people in here trying to sell cars would be great.

“But the engine is the issue. So, you know, there’s been people reaching out, ‘I can do an engine,’ man, it ain't that easy. It’s not that easy.”

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