Tony Stewart originally planned on making just one start with Kaulig Racing, but he has created intrigue about his future in the Craftsman Truck Series.
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The NASCAR Hall of Famer took part in a "press conference" on Wednesday with RAM CEO Tim Kuniskis to address his return to the third-tier series. He will drive a Ram 1500 for Kaulig Racing while joining the team's free agent program. This may not be his only start, now that he has something he can win.
"Tim neglected to tell me 'til today that there's a trophy," Stewart said. "And Tim likes — I don't know how many of you guys know Tim Kuniskis, but he likes to dangle carrots. So I would love to sit here and go, 'Man, this is just one and done.'
"I would say my answer is, I don't have an answer. I would say, before we spoke today, and before he mentioned that there was a trophy and an award for this particular truck and who gets the most points in it, I would have said this was one and done. But let's just say, I'll leave it open-ended at this point."
The free agent truck will feature drivers from a variety of disciplines. Kaulig Racing will reveal the identity of each one in the week leading up to each race on the schedule.
Stewart may not have known about the free agent trophy, but it is something that Kaulig Racing and Ram previously hinted at in a press release. Since the rotating lineup will not be able to compete for the driver's championship, Ram will separately reward the best performer through its specially created prize program.
The press release did not provide details about this prize, nor did Kuniskis reveal it during the media session. He said the full reveal will take place in the future, potentially at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The Ram CEO did provide one hint though. He said that this trophy is "bada—" and "bespoke." He also told Stewart that the winner would be able to drive the trophy, to which Stewart replied, "You're killing me. You are absolutely killing me."
Depending on how the different drivers perform in the free agent truck, Stewart could gain an early lead by delivering behind the wheel at Daytona International Speedway. But if the superspeedway race does not go as planned, he could have future starts available to pursue points and this drivable trophy.
