Tony Stewart is returning to NASCAR.
Kaulig Racing announced Tuesday that the three-time Cup Series champion would drive for the team in the season-opening Truck Series race at Daytona on Feb. 13.
Welcome to The Smoke Show. 🏎️💨@TonyStewartreturns to@NASCARwith@KauligRacingand@RamTrucks!pic.twitter.com/vnxtcluWV6
— Kaulig Trucks (@Kaulig_Trucks)January 13, 2026
Kaulig is the anchor team for RAM's NASCAR return. The automaker is joining the Truck Series for the 2026 season as the series will have four manufacturers for the first time since Dodge was last in the series in 2016. Stewart, whose NHRA team fields Dodges, will be one of many rotating drivers set to appear in one of Kaulig's five trucks this season.
Stewart, 54, hasn't driven in a NASCAR race since he retired at the end of the 2016 season. Stewart missed the first eight races of the season that year after a back injury while riding a dune buggy but made the playoffs thanks to a win at Sonoma. He finished 15th in the standings.
It'll be the first Truck Series appearance for Stewart in over 20 years. He's made six career Truck Series starts and his last came in 2005, when he had one top-five finish in two starts. He's won two of those starts — both were at Richmond in the early 2000s.
Stewart is infamously one of the most successful drivers to never win a Daytona 500, but he's had plenty of success at the track even though he never won NASCAR's biggest race. He won the summer Cup Series race at the track four times and seven of his 11 career Xfinity Series wins came in the season-opening race at Daytona.
After filling in for his wife Leah Pruett for his Tony Stewart Racing team in the NHRA's Top Fuel division in 2025, Stewart will compete against his wife in 2026. Pruett returns to the car after the couple had their first child, and Stewart will compete full-time for Elite Motorsports.
