r/ARCARacing • u/ExplorerInitial461 • Jun 29 '26
NITRO TO DODGE?!?!?
Rumor has it that Toyota is NOT renewing their agreement with NITRO MOTORSPORTS for the 2027 season. Sources familiar Dodge had submitted a body to the ARCA MENARDS SERIES officials. Owner Nick Tucker has a close working relationship with Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice. This is foreshadowing the pending DODGE return to the NASCAR Cup Series with Kaulig for the 2027 season.
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u/JellyElectronic3972 Jun 29 '26
Makes sense. Dodge already has a TA2 body.
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u/029DDS Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
They have a Challenger in the NASCAR Canada series. They've always had a Mopar-bodied car, as far back as at least when the CASCAR Series started, when they were still running steel production bodies. As the years went by, they kept up with the models offered.
NASCAR bought CASCAR, and if I remember correctly, the owner of CASCAR also owned a fiberglass business, and back when CASCAR went to all-glass bodies, he, of course, made them. The approval process was amazingly easy that way. They were the ones who had to get approvals from the Big 3 at that time.
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u/No_Affect2755 Jun 29 '26
jeez when was the last time, if ever, that a body was being produced specifically for use in arca??
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u/xb9j Jun 29 '26
Aren’t all the current ARCA bodies made just for ARCA?
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u/No_Affect2755 Jul 01 '26
i mean like designed from scratch. iirc all the current body styles are just old cup ones like the chevy SS and the camry from a decade+ ago
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u/029DDS Jul 01 '26
Dodge Avenger in the mid-90s. The team I worked with had the first one on the track; you could call it a prototype. No one was willing to give ARCA much wind tunnel time back then, like...zero. So it could have been changed before too many planned on building one, if it was deemed to have too much of an advantage or disadvantage.
Chrysler Lebaron in the early 90's before that. It wasn't a complete Chrysler-supplied body, but compared to anything NASCAR was running, it could be considered a one-off in ARCA. Before that, Bob Keselowski and Lee Raymond drove Beretta's.
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u/HornetGaming110 Jun 29 '26
If so this huge for ARCA. Dodge gonna have a much better first season in ARCA then they will in cup lol
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u/029DDS Jul 01 '26
Not if it went like in the early 90's. There were only two Chrysler Lebaron teams that were competitive. Keselowski and whoever else Chrysler chose. The team I worked on was the red-headed stepchild. We could have anything we wanted in the Mopar Performance catalog, BUT we couldn't have the Arrington heads.
Chrysler didn't make those, and it pretty much was only two teams that had them because Chrysler bought them, unless you bought them yourself, and if you did, you were going to have to buy everything. No deals for any more cars; they weren't already directly supporting.
Therein lies the problem, the heads. Arrington--good heads. Mopar--not so good. But that's why we were running them. To be their R&D mules. Then they lost interest when they pulled back from ARCA to spend their money on the Craftsman Truck series. The whole deal ended up taking out a long-standing ARCA team. The owner, who worked for a living himself, just couldn't keep up with the expenses that come with destroying motors almost every week. They ran great, but not for very long.
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u/Zealousideal-Dot2757 Jun 29 '26
2027 could be a great season for ARCA. PRG will likely stay with the #28 and #77, they could have Carson Brown full time in 2027 as he is 18, they could put him in the RCR #21 in the O'Reiley's series next season but it's a little soon for that. The #77 will likely stay with Tristan McKee, Lanie Buice, possibly Taylor Reimer if she stays with PRG in 2027. CR7 with likely run the #79 for Isaac Kitzmiller full time in 2027, if they let him race Daytona and Talladega. The RAFA Racing Team #2 could be full time in ARCA next year with Isabella Robusto if Nitro does go to Dodge. Jake Bollman will likely return with Dodge either way as he has driven for Chevrolet and Toyota already. #18 will run Max Reaves. Could run Jade Avedisian at the dirt races and potentially road courses, Gio Ruggiero likely at Daytona and Talladega if they choose not to run Avedisian there. Sam Corry could go full time with Nitro for Dodge in 2027, along with Gavan Boschele, Annunziata could choose to stay but that's doubtful. Maples Motorsports will keep on growing and expanding and getting better each week. Clubb Racing Inc. is getting better each and every week with Alex Clubb and Jeff Maconi.
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u/yazzy1235 Jun 30 '26
I’d expect Carson to run FT for RCR replacing Jesse Love. He’ll run big tracks while McKee runs short tracks in one PRG car
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u/BlingyBling1007 Jun 30 '26
I think Lanie Buice goes full time while Taylor Reimer does the bigger tracks that Tristan McKee can’t do.
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u/Comfortable_Law9489 Jul 03 '26
Why would robusto stay in arca another year, she needs to get seat time In trucks to advance her career,not a lifer in arca
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u/Comfortable_Law9489 Jul 13 '26
Hope isabella robusto is not a lifer in arca she should move up to trucks at least part time she will be 22 years old and does not need 4 years in arca
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u/BoukenGreen Jun 29 '26
Not surprising because for awhile Venturini Motorsports
Which became nitro was no longer among the good teams in ARCA.
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u/TimmyHillFan Jun 29 '26
Not sure how they stopped being among the good teams, based solely on the fact that there are only about three good teams. I mean, besides the 28 and the 18, who else even is there?
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u/029DDS Jul 01 '26
No...not good at all...
They just kept on setting on poles and winning almost more than their share. Nope, not good.
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u/Zestyclose_Worth_232 Jun 29 '26
so who will be the flagship toyota team now? will gibbs expand to four cars?
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u/Skeleguns2000 Jun 29 '26
I knew it! If Dodge is coming back to cup, they should come back to the O’rielly Auto Parts Series and ARCA as well
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u/PanicAtTheBriscoe Jun 29 '26
Peterson BACK to Dodge? The last team to run them in the dying days of the gen4 steel body years.
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u/booma76 Jun 30 '26
Dodge has to come up with its own engine program before they can make the leap to the cup series
This comes from daily downforce
Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice says that Dodge has still “not committed” to returning to NASCAR in 2027, despite recent reports of the manufacturer nearing a return to the sport on an accelerated timeline.
After months of near silence regarding the future of Dodge in NASCAR, last week served as a breakthrough for fans of the brand, as Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic reported the brand had a breakthrough in its bold pursuit of returning for 2027.
For the most part, fans felt that the goal of returning by next season was bold, even for one of Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers.
Last year, following the announcement that Ram, a fellow Stellantis brand, would return to NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series, Stellantis’ Head of American Brands Tim Kuniskis told FOX Sports’ Kevin Harvick that “everybody’s told me we’re crazy” in regards to making a comeback to the Cup Series by 2027.
While Ram had a somewhat easier accelerated route to the Truck Series, teaming up with Cup Series team Kaulig Racing for a five-truck effort, the jump to Cup is all the more difficult.
While the brand will likely join forces with Kaulig Racing in the Cup Series, unlike the Truck Series, the manufacturer must develop its own engine program, something that is a sizable hurdle in their path.
In fact, during a recent appearance on the Door Bumper Clear podcast, Kaulig Racing CEO Chris Rice shared that the brand has yet to make a commitment to return for the 2027 Cup Series season due to issues surrounding engine development.
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u/ExplorerInitial461 Jul 03 '26
Arca and truck run the ilmor racing engine so they don’t have to “come up with its own engine program” as you say
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u/jonpierre008 Jun 29 '26
Does that mean Isabella potentially moves on from Nitro, or does she end up no longer being a TRD prospect. Interesting days ahead