Travis Pastrana is set to return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series later this month with Kaulig Racing's RAM Trucks program.
Travis Pastrana is set to return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series later this month with Kaulig Racing's RAM Trucks program.
Pastrana will get behind the wheel of the organization's No. 25 'Free Agent' Ram 1500 in the May 22 NCTS race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It'll be his second start of the 2026 season, after racing Feb. 13 for Niece Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway.
“I love racing and competing at everything, and NASCAR is one of the biggest and most competitive stages on earth,” Pastrana said to Kaulig Racing. “Having the opportunity to hop in the No. 25 Ram truck with Kaulig Racing through the Free Agent Program is an amazing opportunity. These Ram 1500s are so much fun to drive. We’re going to go out there, put on a show for the fans and see what we can do.”
Pastrana is familiar with the 1.5-mile home track from his first stint in NASCAR. When he raced in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series in the 2010s, he made three starts at Charlotte, finishing 24th, five laps down in fall 2012; 33rd with 163 laps complete before a crash ended his race in spring 2013; and 24th, one lap down in fall 2013.
Pastrana has fared a little better overall in NCTS intermediate races than strictly just NOAPS Charlotte races. He has finished 15th, 16th, 22nd, 22nd and 21st over the years.
The Free Agent truck has had drivers such as Tony Stewart, Colin Braun, Carson Ferguson and others take the wheel this season. The idea behind the truck is to get a mix of veteran starts, rising talent, road course specialists and short track and dirt track specialists in it to shake up the races they're in.
So far, Braun earned the best finish for the No. 25 truck. He finished ninth at St. Petersburg. The next best finish is 11th, which Ty Dillon earned at EchoPark Speedway Atlanta and Parker Kligerman earned most recently at Texas Motor Speedway.
The week before Pastrana's run at Charlotte, Kaulig Racing will have Clint Bowyer in the No. 25 truck at Dover Motor Speedway. Then, in the summer, Jamie McMurray will climb aboard the No. 25 truck for the race at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego.
Kaulig's full-time drivers Justin Haley, Brenden Queen, Mini Tyrrell and Corey LaJoie sit 12th, 14th, 20th and 27th in the NCTS points standings, respectively, after seven races. LaJoie started earning points during the fifth race when he took over for Daniel Dye, who Kaulig released after NASCAR suspended him.
Next up for NCTS is Watkins Glen this Friday (4:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90)