Rumors continue to swirl that Dodge will return to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027. While Dodge and expected partner, Kaulig Racing, have kept mum on the topic as far as being 100-percent committal, the debate rages on whether it’s the right move.
Denny Hamlin made his feelings abundantly clear on Actions Detrimental this week. Hamlin didn’t pull any punches in his assessment of where he stands on the topic.
“The rumors are starting to swirl a little bit about Dodge in Cup,” said Hamlin. “Have I mentioned that while we would love another manufacturer, they are struggling they’re struggling to run 15th in trucks.
“So, I don’t know how much of that is like just a marketing play versus like you really, really, truly want to compete, but you know, it’s starting to heat up that they’re really making a push trying to get into the Daytona 500.”
Hamlin sends a warning
Hamlin said the rush itself to return to the Cup Series for the first time since 2012 is no real surprise. That said, he thinks the return should come with a massive warning label.
“Before they got into the trucks this year was, ‘What’s your aspirations for Cup?’ They’re like, ‘Oh, well, the quick aspiration is the 2027 Daytona 500.’
“Does that mean they’re just going to run [that race] or the whole year? Because talk about going to be on the struggle bus. That would be a major, major struggle unless the goal is just ‘let’s get our name out there.’”
The engine is the issue
Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice was asked about the move to the Cup Series in 2027 on this week’s DBC podcast. Rice tapped the brakes but didn’t deny the chances it would happen.
He talked about the hurdle right now being the engines and who would build them. For Hamlin, that too is the biggest obstacle to success.
“That is another significant investment that all the other manufacturers have made. [Chris Rice] mentioned that the reason that they got out [of the Cup] in the first place is that Penske was the engine builder for Dodge,” said Hamlin. “When [Penske] switched to Ford, that left no one building the Dodge engine.
“Are they going to do it themselves? Are they going to outsource that? The clock is ticking. So I don’t know, but I, I just, my concern is that they’re really, really struggling in the truck series. And again, that they’re all running the same motors, I believe in the trucks.
“I hear you, Corey LaJoie and many others. You don’t have the simulation that the others have. But [Kaulig] is still a Cup team.
“You still have smart enough people; you’re still with a Cup organization. They’re underperforming from what even I thought they would. Even I knew they would have some struggles. I didn’t think that anyone envisioned them struggling like they are right now in the truck series, with lots of common things in the truck series.
“My guess is, they turn the corner when they go back to some of these tracks and have some more data and stuff, but man, wanting instantly after the year they’ve started with in trucks to say, ‘we got to get to the Cup.’ I don’t know.
“I worry about that from a competitive standpoint, not necessarily what it would mean for their brand. So take it with a grain of salt.”
Hamlin wants to welcome Dodge
Hamlin is all-in on adding a new manufacturer to the Cup Series. In his view, it makes everyone stronger, but is rushing to race in the Cup in 2027 the best for Dodge?
“I think the more manufacturers that you have, the better it is for the sport. Yeah. I certainly think that it alleviates a little bit of pressure from probably Chevrolet having a support [perspective]. There’s a certain amount of infrastructure you’ve got to have when you have four cars versus 14 cars.
And so, if you can spread that out amongst more manufacturers, then I think it’s good for everyone. And then certainly from a footprint perspective, and adding to the fan zone, things like that, that’s definitely all good. And you want them to believe that NASCAR is a good platform for them to sell their vehicles.
But you don’t want them to rush it, though. Because then if they come in, it goes bad; you don’t want them to have a bad experience.
“I think it could be, very easily.
“And again, I’m very ignorant in this conversation because I’m not having the conversations with the executives of that manufacturer to know why is getting to the Cup so quickly your objective? Is it, ‘we’re coming there to win?’
“If you’re coming there to win. I think that that process is a long, long, long runway. Now, maybe they’re thinking, ‘Well, you just got to get there first.’
“Once you get there, then you can work on getting competitive. It will be very interesting to see over the next few months. I know they’re making a big push to do it.”
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