Ram chief offers major hint over last NASCAR seat

RAM News Monday, January 12, 2026 at 1:05 PM ET •By Chris Deeley

RAM CEO Tim Kuniskis has claimed that the company is hoping to 're-engage' some old-school NASCAR fans with one of its upcoming driver announcements.

Kaulig Racing will be the only team running RAM trucks in their 2026 re-entry to the sport, with Brenden 'Butterbean' Queen, Daniel Dye and Justin Haley their three full-time drivers.

It was announced last week that the team will decide their fourth driver via a reality show called 'Race for the Seat', while their fifth truck will be driven by a rotating cast of free agent drivers.

With the season-opener at Daytona just a month away, the first of those free agent drivers is yet to be named – but Kuniskis has teased that some NASCAR 'heroes' will be occupying the No. 25 truck in 2026.

RAM chief: Heroes will come back to drive for us

The Sports Business Journal's Adam Stern said on the weekend: "RAM has yet to reveal who will drive its free agent truck, but CEO Tim Kuniskis says he thinks it is 'going to re-engage some people that I think were passive NASCAR fans, maybe get re-engaged now because they’re going to see some of their heroes come back and drive'."

When announcing the free agent program last year, Kuniskis said that there will be a prize for the best individual performance from a driver in the No. 25, but that the prize won't be announced until the team arrives at Daytona.

He also said at the time: “We said, the key to that is these fans love the teams and they love the drivers, these larger-than-life personalities is who they’re attracted to.

"You know, they can’t get in and drive the car, but they can live vicariously through these people. So we said, how do we expand that past these three drivers, and that’s where the idea of the free agent car came from.”