Ram will return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2026.

The new Ram 1500 concept was announced Sunday in Michigan, one of 25 product announcements the Stellantis-owned company will make over 18 months. It marks Ram’s (and Dodge’s) return to NASCAR competition after a 13-year break, having left the sport in 2012 after a 17-year presence.

“For more than a decade, customers and our dealer network asked about getting back into NASCAR,” said Tim Kuniskis, CEO of Ram. “The desire was always there, but we didn’t have a plan that delivered the last tenth [which] just didn’t fit our DNA. Now we have a solid plan that will set us apart from the field and will bring fresh new interest and engagement to America’s motorsport.”

Kuniskis acknowledged that Ram was out of NASCAR for so long because it is a tough return on investment. Now that the company is bringing the Hemi back, in addition to other production vehicle announcements, Kuniskis said it makes perfect sense to be back in the racing space.

“The reason we’re going to do it: 20 million people are NASCAR fans,” Kuniskis said. “I’m more concerned about the people who are in the parking lot of the NASCAR races. Twenty million people, 50 percent of them drive a pickup truck. Out of the 50 percent, 20 percent of them already buy a Ram, so the lift from 20 million to 10 million to 20 percent of that, there is no ROI unless you do it differently.

“Our objective is to take 20 million and turn it into 80 or 100 million, and we have a plan. We know how we’re going to do it. We think we have a path to get to that. We think people are going to like the way we’re doing it because it’s going to be fun.”

Kuniskis gives a personal touch to Ram’s TV spots set to debut Sunday. Stellantis photo

The truck, dubbed the Ram 1500 concept, was molded by the Ram design team and resembles the production truck and elements of the Ram Sport Truck line-up. A large Ram logo is centered on the grille.

In commercial spots debuting Sunday to coincide with the announcement, viewers will see Kuniskis driving the truck and saying, in part, “We own it, we got it wrong, and we’re fixing it. You hear that? That’s our Hemi, and it’s saying, ‘I’m back.’”

The commercial was filmed at Darlington Raceway with the race truck and two production trucks. As the spot continues, Kuniskis says, “We’re back in America’s motorsport, the Hemi is back, and we aren’t going anywhere.”

Ram will unveil more of its 2026 plans at a later date, including the team line-up and drivers. Kuniskis was also adamant the company has plenty more to come and show off, including continued activation at racetracks the remainder of this season, and would not go dark between now and the 2026 season opener at Daytona.

“Ram returning to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a major moment for the sport, and a sign that NASCAR remains a strong platform for blue-chip brand partners,” said John Probst, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “We are excited to welcome Ram back to the sport. Its identity includes high performance, durability, and innovation – characteristics that embody NASCAR and, specifically, the Craftsman Truck Series.”

Denny Hamlin took the lead with three laps remaining to win a fuel-mileage battle at Michigan International Speedway.

Hamlin moved into first on Lap 197 of 200 past William Byron, who had to pit for fuel in the closing laps and finished 28th.

“Obviously, (Byron) was doing a great job of defending,” Hamlin told Prime pit reporter Kim Coon. “But Daddy, I’m sorry, but I beat your favorite driver, folks. All of them.”

Hamlin’s fiance, Jordan Fish, is expecting the couple’s third child (a boy) this week.

Chris Buescher finished second, followed by Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson.

Ross Chastain, Zane Smith, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top 10.

Hamlin earned his third victory of the season and the 57th of his career. For his third victory at Michigan and first at the 2-mile oval since 2011, Hamlin had to slice through a lot of traffic after resarting outside the top 10 with 47 laps remaining. The race stayed green the rest of the way.

“It’s fantastic,” Hamlin said. “Chris Gayle, this whole team has just done a great job. We’ve been so fast throughout the entire year, just haven’t finished it for one reason or another. Feels good to come here at Michigan where we’ve been so close over the years. This is such a gratifying day to restart 11^th or something like that and drive through the field. I knew I was going to have to go 100 percent to get around everybody. Just worked them one by one.”

For the third consecutive race, Carson Hocevar had a good chance to break through for his first Cup Series victory, but the Spire Motorsports driver suffered a cut left-rear tire while leaving with 19 laps remaining. The Portage, Michigan, native was forced to pit under green and fell a lap down in 30th after leading 22 laps.

Hocevar tied a career-best finish at Nashville Superspeedway last week and was in contention for the Coca-Cola 600 before an engine failure in his No. 77 Chevrolet.

The race was stopped ror more than 11 minutes by a red flag for cleanup of a five-car crash in Turn 2 on Lap 67. Alex Bowman took the worst of it, getting turned into a head-on collision with the outside wall by contact from Cole Custer (who had been hit by Austin Cindric).

Bowman walked away from his mangled No. 48 Chevrolet, but his freefall in the points standings continued with his seventh finish of 27th or worse in the past nine races.

“That hurt a lot,” Bowman told Coon. “That was probably top of the board on hits I’ve taken, and unfortunately I’ve had a lot of hits. So I hate that for the 48 team. Couldn’t really do anything except think about ‘Oh (expletive) this is about to hurt really bad.’

“Hate that for our team. It’s been a rough two months. I mean, honesty, we were pretty decent (in practice), I was pretty optimistic to start today. We got super loose and just had a long pit stop trying to make an adjustment to make it better. And never really got a chance to race again after that. I’m confident that my guys would have gotten the car better, and we could have gotten back up through there, but unfortunately, when you get in the back like that, (expletive) gets pretty crazy, and stuff like that happens.”

WILL BE UPDATED

Stage 1 winner: Buescher

Stage 2 winner: Byron

Next up: Sunday, June 15, 3 p.m. ET at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico City on Prime.

Fifteen races down, 11 to go in the Cup Series’ regular season.

The NASCAR Cup Series will be in Michigan this weekend for the FireKeeper Casino 400. The race is set to start Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR Cup Series at 2025 Michigan will air exclusively on Amazon Prime Video (free trial).

What: FireKeepers Casino 400, a NASCAR Cup Series race

When: Sunday, June 8, 2025

Where: Michigan International Speedway

Time: 2 p.m. ET

TV: N/A

Live stream: Prime Video (free trial)

Amazon Prime Video is a streaming service from Amazon that offers an huge collection of movies, TV shows, and original content for Amazon Prime subscribers. Prime Video offers exclusive original series and films, plus a growing range of live sports events, and can be streamed on your favorite app-enabled devices, including Android and iOS, Fire TV, XBox, PlayStation, Roku and more. Prime costs $14.99 per month, and includes additional Amazon customer perks, like free shipping. It starts with a 30-day free trial.

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Here’s a recent motorsports story via The Associated Press:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A three-judge federal appellate panel ruled Thursday in favor of NASCAR in the antitrust lawsuit filed by two teams, one owned by Michael Jordan, and vacated an injunction that required 23XI and Front Row be recognized as chartered teams as their case snakes through the legal system.

Both race teams sued NASCAR late last year after refusing to sign new agreements on charter renewals. The charter system is similar to franchises in other sports, but the charters are revocable by NASCAR and have expiration dates. 23XI, which is owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, allied with Front Row in suing NASCAR after 13 other organizations signed the renewals last September and those two organization refused.

“We are disappointed by today’s ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and are reviewing the decision to determine our next steps,” said Jeffery Kessler, attorney for 23XI and Front Row. “This ruling is based on a very narrow consideration of whether a release of claims in the charter agreements is anti-competitive and does not impact our chances of winning at trial scheduled for Dec. 1.

“We remain confident in our case and committed to racing for the entirety of this season as we continue our fight to create a fair and just economic system for stock car racing that is free of anticompetitive, monopolistic conduct.”

The two teams sued and asked for a temporary injunction that would recognize them as chartered teams for this season. The antitrust case isn’t scheduled to be heard until December.

The teams said they needed the injunction because the current charter agreement prohibits them from suing NASCAR. 23XI also argued it would be harmed because Tyler Reddick’s contract would have made him a free agent if the team could not guarantee him a charter-protected car.

The original judge ruled that NASCAR’s charter agreement likely violated antitrust law in granting the injunction. But when they heard arguments last month, the three judges at the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, indicated they were skeptical of that decision.

The judges said in Thursday’s ruling they were not aware of any case that supports the lower court’s theory of antitrust law, so they vacated the injunction.

“In short, because we have found no support for the proposition that a business entity or person violates the antitrust laws by requiring a prospective participant to give a release for past conduct as a condition for doing business, we cannot conclude that the plaintiffs made a clear showing that they were likely to succeed on the merits of that theory,” the court said. “And without satisfaction of the likelihood-of-success element, the plaintiffs were not entitled to a preliminary injunction.”

The teams have 14 days to appeal to the full court. The injunction also has no bearings on the merits of the case, and the earliest NASCAR can treat the teams as unchartered — a charter guarantees their organizations a starting spot each week and prize money — is one week after the deadline to appeal, provided there is no pending appeal.

NASCAR has not said what it would do with the six charters held by the two organizations if they are returned to the sanctioning body. There are only 36 chartered cars for a 40-car field. If the teams do not appeal, the six entries would have to compete as “open” cars — which means they’d have to qualify on speed each week to make the race and they would receive a fraction of the money.

It’s not clear what would happen to Reddick’s contract. He goes to Michigan this weekend ranked sixth in the Cup Series standings. Both organizations are still seeking a win this season — Hamlin’s three victories are with Joe Gibbs Racing, the team he drives for.

Reddick is last year’s regular-season champion and competed for the Cup title last November.

The checkered flag is out for the NASCAR Michigan race.

Denny Hamlin won the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 8. This is Hamlin’s third win of the season and No. 57 of his career. It was also the first win for Joe Gibbs Racing at Michigan since Matt Kenseth in 2015.

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Chris Buescher earned his first stage victory of the season in the opening stage at Michigan. William Byron won the second stage to earn his seventh stage victory of the season. The Michigan race had seven cautions for 33 laps and 15 lead changes.

Here are the results for the NASCAR Michigan race.

Who won NASCAR Michigan race? Winner, race results for FireKeepers Casino 400 Cup Series race

The unofficial full running order, results from NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

1. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

2. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

3. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

4. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

5. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

6. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

7. Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

8. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

9. Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford

10. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

11. Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

12. Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford

13. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota

14. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

15. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

16. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

17. AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

18. Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

19. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 HYAK Motorsports Chevrolet

21. Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

22. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford

23. Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

24. Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

25. Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota

26. Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford

27. Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford

28. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

29. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

30. Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

31. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford

32. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford

33. Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford

34. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota

35. Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford

36. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Michigan results: Denny Hamlin is winner Sunday

BROOKLYN, Mich. — Vowing to “shake up the sport,” Ram will return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2026 and seek to pave the way for another brand within the Stellantis company to field cars in the Cup Series someday.

This marks the return of the Ram in NASCAR since the manufacturer left the Truck Series after the 2012 season. Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota and Ram will compete in the Truck Series next year.

Tim Kuniskis, CEO of Ram, said that his company plans to impact the sport in a way that creates a larger fan base and more avid fans through its product and at-track experience.

“Our objective is to take the 20 million (avid fans of NASCAR) and turn it into 80 or 100 million,” he said. “We have a plan. We know how we’re going to do it. We think we have a path to get to that. We think people are going to like the way we’re doing it because it’s going to be fun. Not ready to share all the details with you yet, but I told you that the experiential piece was going to be just a little bit of how we’re doing it. It’s going to get crazier from there.”

Christopher Bell and his new spotter will be tested in today’s race, particularly on restarts.

That included a Ram demonstration shortly before the start of Sunday’s Cup race on the frontstretch at Michigan International Speedway.

Fans watching on Prime saw a high-energy Ram commercial touting its return to NASCAR next year just before the start of the Cup race.

“We’re setting the tone right there on how we’re coming back to NASCAR and it’s going to build from that moment all the way to Daytona (in 2026),” Kuniskis said.

Kuniskis anticipates having four to six trucks at Daytona next February. He did not reveal any teams or drivers. Ram is expected to have the Ram body finalized and approved by mid-August after a wind tunnel test.

John Probst, NASCAR senior vice president and chief racing development officer, called Ram’s entry into the Truck Series a “big moment” for NASCAR. This marks the first time a manufacturer has joined the Truck Series since Toyota did with the 2004 season.

“When we work with our (manufacturers), they have made it loud and clear that they would welcome a new (manufacturer) into our sport with open arms,” Probst said. “They’ve been very helpful in that process with Ram and some of the other manufacturers we talk to.”

Three year ago frustrations were high with the pit crews at 23XI Racing but a novel hire helped build those units to be among the sport’s best.

But what about Cup? Ram is a Truck brand.

“We have cars in our company,” Kuniskis said, alluding to the Stellantis, which features 14 iconic automotive brands, including Dodge and Chrysler.

“We’re excited that they have interest in the Cup Series,” Probst said of Stellantis.

The process for any new Cup manufacturer features an 18-month submission process for its vehicle, engine and other parts, meaning the earliest a new manufacturer could join Cup would be 2027.

Probst also hinted at additional interest from manufacturers in the Cup Series.

“I don’t want to jinx ourselves, but I would say we are very close with one other (manufacturer),” Probst said. “Can’t speak for them. Obviously, it’s their decision to make. We would love for them to decide to come into NASCAR.

“Even with that, there’s one or two others that we’re a little bit earlier in the discussions but also looking pretty positive, but we all know that a (manufacturer) deciding to come into NASCAR, it’s a big commitment for them. It’s not something that they take lightly. It requires a lot of research and approval at the highest levels. We’re confident right now. We like the position we’re in and think that we’re a pretty good investment for a (manufacturer).”