Queen Will be a Kaulig Truck Driver: But What Does This Mean?

Kaulig today announced that Brendan Queen will be racing with them full-time in trucks in 2026! Officially becoming a part of RAM’s return to the Truck Series. Queen’s journey to this point is incredible, going from having to study at uni and a full-time job to a full-time NASCAR ride in the truck series.

What Should We Expect From the Kaulig Rookie?

Well, that’s hard to say for so, so many reasons. We don’t even know what to expect from Kaulig in trucks or RAM, for that matter. Given Kaulig’s success in the Xfinity Series, it’s reasonable to expect them to excel in the trucks. However, that also depends on how competitive RAM will be in their first year in trucks, which is totally unknown right now!

And with Queen only having four truck starts and 2 Xfinity starts, so in a vacuum, there’s no way to really judge where he should be at. Unless Kaulig either hires a veteran driver, whom we can measure him against, or RAM convinces another competitive team, like Thorsport, for example, to join the RAM stable.

We don’t have a way to really judge him aside from his past actions.  So, it should be expected, especially at the short tracks, that Queen should be competitive in a good truck, and if not in a good truck, then he should be outdriving his equipment. But since there are so many unknowns when it comes to what to expect from his rookie year, it’s not about the expectations. It’s about the unknown!

Kaulig and RAM’s 1st Season In Trucks

While Kaulig’s Cup and Xfinity experience will undoubtedly aid their first year in trucks, the fact that it’ll be Kaulig’s first year in a completely new series and RAM’s first since 2012 will likely present some challenges. The 1st for Kaulig is working with multiple managers at once. Although Dodge does have plans to enter Cup and Xfinity, that’s not until 2027, leaving an awkward transition year between Kaulig, Chevy, and Dodge.

The 1st question that comes up is, will Chevy even continue to support Kaulig? Well, there’s nothing that says Chevy won’t, and as Matt Kaulig himself has confirmed, they’re looking to keep Cup and Xfinity teams and the truck team as separate as possible. Hopefully, Chevy will respect that separation and keep the Xfinity and Cup teams decently competitive.

“I mean, we’re taking it as we’re Ram trucks, we’re running the Truck Series. I mean, we’re still Chevy with Xfinity and Cup. We’ve had great relationships with Richard Childress and RCR, so we’re keeping it separate and viewing it that way. … Every team’s tied to a manufacturer right now, but over the years, people have switched manufacturers. So, we don’t view it as a switch in manufacturers. We look at it as we’re going truck racing with Ram.”

Kaulig’s Five-Truck Expansion

Another challenge Kaulig will face at the start of their truck journey is yet another massive expansion to their team. The last time they made this move was when they transitioned to the Cup Series, marking the point when their Xfinity form began to decline; they now find themselves in a similar situation.  With the truck series struggling financially, even with the resources Dodge is going to pour into the team, it was already a risk.

But they promised to expand to 5 trucks in their first year, even before they were in the series… what?! It’s a very high-risk, high-reward type of plan they have going on right now. Racing with two drivers at once, while expanding to 5 trucks in the same year, is a lot for any team to take on, let alone one that has less than 5 cup wins. 1.

Final Thoughts

If a team like Penske or Trackhouse ever comes, they could screw up everything and then screw the careers of the likes of Queen or Dye right up. Although getting close to Dodge could pay off if they value Kaulig’s help and loyalty, maybe they’ll still give them the big bucks. We’ll wait and see, thanks a bunch!