Reading between the lines, it’s really easy to prognosticate Kaulig Racing paving a path to someday go NASCAR Cup Series racing with their new Truck Series partners at RAM and parent company Stellantis.
You know, the current parent company of former Cup Series manufacturer Dodge.
Matt Kaulig, the owner of Kaulig Racing wouldn’t outright state that the goal was to go Cup Series racing with Stellantis but it’s in the phrasing of what he did say, that you start to see a pretty clear road map.
Kaulig has always said of all his businesses that an entity that is not growing is dying.
“We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t think that,” Kaulig said during an announcement event with RAM on Saturday morning in Daytona. “For now, we’re keeping it separate and if that happens and it very well could, we’ve been open in that all NASCAR teams want to be a key partner but if there’s no room at the other OEMs, then there’s no room.
“Chevy understands that as well, right?”
Kaulig making long-term plans
Kaulig Racing Ram announcement
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
Translation: Toyota has a primary team in Joe Gibbs Racing and Ford has a primary team in Penske and Chevrolet has Hendrick Motorsports. Kaulig Racing is currently aligned with Richard Childress Racing as a satellite team.
Again, read between the lines, and recognize this is the pathway for Kaulig Racing to become the primary Stellantis/Dodge team when that program materializes in the next several years.
“It’s up to us to do a great job with RAM,” Kaulig said. “Show them that we are a phenomenal partner and that we are a great race team and that we can win on and off the track. So, they would probably make that determination as well as we could — who they would go with if they do go to Cup or Xfinity, so it’s up to us to perform.
“But life is that way. It’s like that in any business. You have to do as well as you can for your customers and that is what we plan to do.”
There is a lot of linguistic gymnastics going on there but Kaulig is very much saying there is a path to becoming the Dodge factory team in the Cup Series if he, and team president Chris Rice, and Chief Business Officer Ty Norris deliver for RAM.
Operating one team across three divisions with two manufacturers
Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice, Ty Norris at Kaulig Racing Ram announcement
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
In the meanwhile, Kaulig Racing and Kaulig Trucks will sort of be run as two different operations out of the Richard Childress Racing campus in Welcome, North Carolina where Kaulig owns two buildings.
Rice says the teams will be housed in a way that there is no mixing of proprietary resources from Stellantis and General Motors.
“As we go through this, there will be firewalls up to make sure that we protect RAM and our Cup and Xfinity programs,” Rice said. “It’s still Matt’s teams but it’s out of respect for everyone who has believed in us and our new partners that believed in us and we’re going to keep it that way for a long time.
“We always get the questions about ‘what is next’ and this is next for a long time, right now, just getting this in the position to win races and be in contention for the playoffs.”
As part of this agreement, RAM is fully funding all five full-time Trucks for next season. There will be no Kaulig Racing partners directly involved with the program from a business standpoint. This is a RAM factory program and It has chose to do so with Kaulig’s industry experience.
That connection, which has been years in the making, was set up by NASCAR CEO Jim France, who believed there was a natural synergy in how Kualig and Rice do business to how RAM president Tim Kuniskis conducts himself.
These are all outside the box thinkers who share several character traits. Rice says he is thrilled to have this sort of friendship right out of the box.
“I remember the first time we met Tim and we stood up to shake hands and he was like ‘why are you standing up’ and it has been awesome to meet him and Nate (Buelow) and everyone that drove this home.
“I do believe we are kindred spirits and are a lot alike. I’m looking forward to this and am looking forward to wearing this RAM on our t-shirts because I feel like we are RAMs at time, Kaulig Racing are RAMs. We try to ram ourselves into situations and we’re excited to go chase some trophies.”
Matt Kaulig at Kaulig Racing Ram announcement
Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images
Rice is actually very familiar with the worst-case scenario with balancing two manufacturers in Stellantis and Chevrolet, as he was at Bill Davis Racing as it tried to balance a similar dynamic with Toyota and DaimlerChrysler’s Dodge.
Dodge sued Bill Davis Racing for breach of contract and the improper sharing of proprietary information and losing that case eventually marked the end of that team in NASCAR. Rice says having seen that first-hand makes Kaulig Racing better prepared to manage the Stellantis/Chevrolet dynamic.
“I saw that go down, and we have been very up front from the get-go,” Rice said. “We haven’t done anything RAM wise inside our shop or anything like that. We have been very sensitive to this situation for RAM and our other OEM so we’re going to make sure that we do it correctly because that is the way Matt Kaulig wants us to do it.
“He doesn’t want us to do it shady at all and that is how we are going to try to do it.”
In this article
Be the first to know and subscribe for real-time news email updates on these topics
