With the 2025 NASCAR season ending a little over two weeks ago, the focus has quickly shifted to the next year of proceedings, especially given the rumors that have been making the rounds. The biggest of the bunch stands in the form of a potential comeback of the legendary Tony Stewart, with the three-time Cup Series champion being linked to a move to the Truck Series.
The current NHRA Top Fuel competitor and team owner has been away from the NASCAR world since 2016, but rumors suggest that he might be about to make a comeback. And while that goes on, Kaulig Racing’s CEO has had his say on the matter, as he dropped a crucial update around the remaining open seats in his team.
Tony Stewart’s Comeback News Fueled by Kaulig Racing CEO
Recently, Stewart has dominated the NASCAR headlines, largely due to the prevailing rumors surrounding his NASCAR comeback. With Dodge returning to the NASCAR world with its ‘RAM’ brand in the Truck Series, the company’s parent organization, Stellantis, is hoping to join the sport on a much larger scale.
In an effort to achieve the same, Dodge, having partnered up with Kaulig Racing, will be fielding five entries in the Truck Series. Three of those seats have already been filled by Brenden ‘Butterbean’ Queen, Daniel Dye, and Justin Haley, respectively, with two seats still open.
Thanks to Stewart’s team’s NHRA links with Dodge, one of the open seats remains associated with his name, and Kaulig CEO Chris Rice has decided to take matters into his own hands.
Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio recently, Rice addressed the situation around the rumors, claiming that there was no contract in place with Stewart (and Kasey Kahne, who is rumored to be associated with the other open seat). Rice added that while there have been conversations around possibly having Stewart on board for next season, the case has been the same for any Dodge driver still capable of racing.
“We do not have a contract with either one of those guys. Do we have conversations about those guys? Absolutely. Do we have conversations about everybody that drove a Dodge car? Absolutely.”
Notably, what Rice didn’t do was explicitly deny Stewart’s chances of driving one of their trucks next season. Looking at his recent interviews, they have been very similar to his most recent appearance. And on each of the previous occasions, Rice tried to play the hype down, only for the news to be confirmed at a later stage.
For example, when the RAM-Kaulig deal was just a rumor, Rice spoke to the NASCAR media and tried to play down the news. While he agreed to have held conversations with the brand, he deflected attention to the matter by claiming every other team on the grid had held conversations, too.
However, in the end, having never denied the linkage, Kaulig announced an upcoming partnership with RAM starting in 2026.
Similar instances happened with Brenden Queen and the news around their Xfinity departure, with Rice trying his best to play down the hype.
As such, despite what the Kaulig Racing CEO says, rumors continue to burn bright about the former Cup Series champion’s famous return to the NASCAR realm. And should it happen, Stewart will join the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, and Casey Mears in the list of drivers who left NASCAR and then made a comeback.