Ram celebrates triple top ten and strongest showing yet in NASCAR return

Watkins Glen was a big day for Kaulig Racing's new NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team, functioning as the anchor organization for Ram in its long-awaited return go the sport.

Before Friday, Kaulig's fleet of five Ram 1500s had just five top tens total this year, with a best finish of seventh.

Well, at Watkins Glen International on Friday, Kaulig put three trucks inside the top ten in a single race, while also recording their best finish yet — sixth by A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 25 Ram.

Mini Tyrrell also earned his first top ten since joining the Truck Series, placing eighth, while Brenden Queen finished ninth.

Corey LaJoie finished 12th, and Justin Haley 23rd. However, Haley was also battling for a top ten at the end when a mechanical gremlin derailed his day on the final lap.

This is by far the team's best outing so far by the Kaulig Ram squad, and Allmendinger was well-positioned for the team's first top five until the final restart as well.

Allmendinger, Tyrrell, and Queen react to Watkins Glen result

Mini Tyrrell, No. 14 Kaulig Racing Ram

“We executed as well as we could and didn’t make any mistakes," said Allmendinger, who earned his first Cup win at the Glen in 2014. "We got a solid top-10 out of today in our Ram 1500. We were kind of on the cutoff on tires there, so that was a difficult thing, especially on the last restart there. The guys behind me had the (fresher) tires. We maximized what we could. I just wish we had a chance to battle for the win for Ram there at the end."

Tyrrell earned his ride by winning the Ram: Race for the Seat competition, and hadn't even run a Truck race before 2026. Before this solid top ten, his best result was 19th — a full eleven positions lower.

"Finally, a top-10 finish for this team," said Tyrrell. "Man, that's huge. That's major. It's been such a blessing to be a part of this team, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity. My crew chief Bruce Cook made a really good call right there to stay out and keep us on the lead lap. We did what we needed to do, so we'll take that any day of the week. It just gives everybody confidence, gives me more confidence, and what a fun day it was here, man, this race track is so cool."

Queen is now responsible for three of the team's eight top tens this year, and is the only member of Kaulig Racing to get Ram inside the top ten in more than one race. He is also the highest-ranked Kaulig driver in the standings, sitting 13th in points.

"Obviously, I’m happy to get a top-10 finish to keep the momentum going, but we weren't a top 10 truck," said Queen. "It’s always nice to steal a good finish, but I'm hard on myself about it. I have to clean up some things, and we have some things to work on as a team. But overall, I'm just happy to have another solid day with the No. 12 Cummins Ram 1500 and everyone at Kaulig Racing. I’m excited to get to Dover. It's my favorite track on the schedule."

Next week, Clint Bowyer will make a surprise return to the seat as the driver of the No. 25 free-agent truck for Kaulig and Ram, followed by extreme sports legend Travis Pastrana at Charlotte.