Kaulig Names Allmendinger and Dillon to Lead Dodge's 2027 Cup Return

Kaulig Racing named AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon as the drivers for Dodge’s return to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2027, four days after Stellantis confirmed the manufacturer is coming back with Kaulig as its anchor team. Allmendinger, 44, returns to the No. 16 entry and Dillon, 34, continues in the No. 10, giving the new program two veterans who already know the shop. Dodge will reveal the race car on December 4, and its first points-paying Cup start since 2012 will be the Daytona 500.

Who got the two Dodge seats?

The two men already in them. Stellantis’s official release reports Kaulig named Allmendinger and Dillon on Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the Cup Series crowns its champion on Sunday. Allmendinger has served as the cornerstone of Kaulig’s Cup and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series programs since joining the team in 2019, SPEED SPORT reports, with victories across IndyCar, IMSA and NASCAR, including emotional Cup wins for Kaulig at the Indianapolis road course in 2021 and the Charlotte ROVAL in 2023. Dillon, a former ARCA champion and multi-time winner in the Truck and O’Reilly series, brings more than 300 Cup starts and a reputation as a disciplined setup communicator. Neither man needs an introduction to the team, which is exactly the point.

Why these two drivers?

Because everything else about the program is new, and Kaulig did not want the drivers to be. Team CEO Chris Rice said the team is introducing a lot of new parts, pieces and variables, so keeping some consistency behind the wheel was important for the inaugural season with Dodge, SPEED SPORT reports. “I look at 2027 like we are pouring the foundation for our future,” Rice said. Allmendinger called the chance to help bring Dodge back special, saying he has driven a lot of different race cars but being on the front lines of building a new OEM program with a brand as iconic as Dodge is a unique challenge. Dillon called it a dream scenario. The announcement also lands in the same week the garage is arguing about standards, with Spire suspending Carson Hocevar for the Homestead finale after his Martinsville brake-checks, which makes Kaulig’s emphasis on steadiness read as deliberate.

When does Dodge actually race again?

At the 2027 Daytona 500 on February 21, the first points-paying Cup start for a Dodge since 2012. Stellantis announced the return on Monday at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, USA Today reports, and the team may also run the exhibition Clash at Daytona on February 13. The car itself will be revealed on December 4 at the 59th annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, via livestream on FloRacing and on the NASCAR channel. NASCAR has already approved the Charger body for next season, and the return gives the Cup Series a fourth manufacturer alongside Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota. Dodge’s own timeline is the story here: Stellantis executive Tim Kuniskis said everyone told the company it was impossible to get back in one year, and the answer was to do the planning, testing and perfecting in real time, on the track.

What is Kaulig, and why is it the anchor team?

A team that is ten years old and has already done this kind of climb once. Kaulig Racing was founded in 2016, just celebrated its 10th anniversary, and has 27 O’Reilly Series victories and two regular-season championships, Stellantis reports. It expanded full-time into the Cup Series in 2022, earning two Cup wins, two pole positions and playoff appearances. The Dodge deal follows a year in which Kaulig fielded five Ram trucks as part of Ram’s own return to NASCAR, with guest drivers including Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Jamie McMurray in the No. 25 free-agent entry. Founder Matt Kaulig called being named the anchor team for the fifth-largest automaker in the world an incredible honor and a challenge the team is ready to face. The team is currently aligned with Chevrolet, so the switch to Dodge is a full manufacturer change, not a rebrand.

What is Dodge’s history in NASCAR?

It stretches back to the 1950s and ends, for now, with a championship. Dodge first entered NASCAR competition in the early 1950s, earning legendary status in the 1960s and 1970s with drivers such as Richard Petty, David Pearson and Bobby Isaac, and with the Charger Daytona’s aerodynamic innovations, Stellantis reports. USA Today adds the detail: Lee Petty gave Dodge its first Cup victory in 1953 at Palm Beach Speedway, Pearson won 15 races and the championship in a Dodge in 1966, Buddy Baker became the first driver to turn a lap over 200 miles per hour at Talladega in 1970, and Petty won two of his seven championships in a Dodge in 1974 and 1975. Dodge stepped away in the 1980s, returned in 2001, and reached the summit in 2012 when Brad Keselowski won the drivers’ championship for Team Penske before the manufacturer departed at the end of that season.

What is still unanswered?

Two things, and both decide whether this is a parade or a program. Dodge has not officially announced who will build its engines, though multiple reports expect ECR, the Richard Childress-owned builder that supplies Chevrolet engines, to do the job, USA Today reports. The Athletic reports Kaulig is also expected to field a part-time third Dodge for select races, including the Daytona 500, but no driver or schedule has been confirmed. The car reveal on December 4 answers the first visible question, and the engine answer will say more about how competitive the cars can be. Until then, the program has its drivers, its team and its date, which is further than a manufacturer return usually gets four days after the announcement. The driver market has been moving all autumn, from the Haas and Sam Hunt swap that moved Sheldon Creed to Christopher Bell’s public row with Kyle Larson over a power-steering claim, but this is the first 2027 seat announcement tied to a manufacturer rather than a team.