Kaulig Racing's "free agent" truck in their first season with Ram Trucks in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has led to some notable one-off appearances from drivers many fans may have believed would never again compete in a national series race.
Ryan Newman joined the likes of Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, and Jamie McMurray on that list by running this past weekend's race at North Wilkesboro Speedway behind the wheel of the No. 25 Ram and finishing 24th.
Newman hadn't competed in NASCAR on any level since 2023, when he competed in eight races for Rick Ware Racing in the Cup Series following a year off, as well as one race for MBM Motorsports in the Xfinity (now O'Reilly Auto Parts) Series. He hadn't run an O'Reilly Series race since 2012.
Ryan Newman replacement confirmed for Indianapolis
Newman's Truck Series start was his first since 2018, since he failed to qualify for the dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2021, and it was just the eighth of his career. Whether or not he returns to the series remains to be seen, but if he does, it won't be this weekend.
Two weeks after Louis Foster made his NASCAR debut in the Truck Series race at Lime Rock Park for Freedom Racing Enterprises, another IndyCar driver is set to compete this weekend at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, and that driver is hometown favorite Conor Daly.
Daly has competed in select Truck Series races before, most recently three, including the Lucas Oil Raceway race, in 2024. His career-high finish came in 2024 in the form of a 17th place finish at Kansas Speedway, after he placed 29th at IRP.
Looking beyond this weekend, Kaulig Racing have only solidified their plans for the No. 25 truck for two of the season's remaining nine races.
Elliott Sadler is set to return for his first NASCAR national series race since 2019 (and his first Truck Series race since 2011) at Richmond Raceway in August, while Carson Ferguson is set to make his third start of the year at Martinsville Speedway in October, after running the first two races of his career at Bristol Motor Speedway in April and Nashville Superspeedway in May.
Fox Sports 1 is set to provide live coverage of the TSport 200 from Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park starting at 8:00 p.m. ET this Friday, July 24. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action!
