It’s mid-February, which means the NASCAR field is back in action and, this year, it means the return of Ram to the Craftsman Truck Series.
During Friday night’s broadcast of the 2026 Fresh From Florida 250 on FS1, UFC CEO Dana White joined Jamie Little, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano to discuss how he helped Ram return to the Craftsman Truck Series.
“Ram, the CEO, Tim [Kuniskis] reached out to me and came out to Las Vegas and talked to me about helping them bring Ram back to NASCAR,” White said about helping bring Ram back to the Truck Series.
“He liked a lot of the stuff that we’ve done in building our business. I love challenges, so I decided to do it and here I am at my first Daytona, and I actually have some skin in the game and care who wins the race.”
Ram first appeared in the Truck Series at the sport’s 1995 inception, with Bobby Hamilton later winning the 2004 Truck Series championship, the first title for Ram in the Truck Series. Ram left the Truck Series after the brand closed up shop in 2013 but has returned for the 2026 season with five trucks in the series after partnering with Kaulig Racing.
White was also the executive producer and provided commentary — along with the aforementioned Kuniskis and Kaulig Racing Team principals Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice — for the show “Race for the Seat,” which was an eight-part show that aired on FOX networks, among other outlets.
The series was based on racers battling to be a full-time driver for Kaulig-Ram in the 2026 Truck Series season. That driver turned out to be Timothy “Mini” Tyrrell, who finished the Fresh From Florida 250 in 19th place. Brenden Queen, Justin Haley and Daniel Dye are the other drivers racing for Kaulig-Ram this season, with rotating drivers taking up a fifth car.
Friday night was a sensational start to the 2026 Craftsman Truck Series season, as the lead changed hands multiple times on the final lap, highlighted by Chandler Smith rocketing his way to first place and a win in the final seconds after an inside lane opened up. Giovanni Ruggiero finished in second place, followed by Christian Eckes in third.
On Saturday, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season commences with the United Rentals 300. Then, on Sunday, it’s the Daytona 500, which can be viewed at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app, with “NASCAR RaceDay” going live at 12:30 p.m. ET.
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