Tony Stewart competing in NASCAR again wasn't something that many fans would have had on their bingo cards, specifically after the post-2024 shutdown of Stewart-Haas Racing and the fact that Stewart had largely distanced himself from the sport since then.
But rumors began to heat up late in the 2025 season. Kaulig Racing confirmed a five-truck program with Ram Trucks, which had not previously been a Craftsman Truck Series manufacturer since 2012, and they announced that one of those five trucks would be run as a "Free Agent Program".
Matt Kaulig's team paused their O'Reilly Auto Parts Series program after 10 successful seasons to place the necessary amount of focus on the new Truck Series team.
Stewart initially did not address those rumors, but he was later named to be the first driver of this "Free Agent Program" in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
"Smoke" had not competed in a NASCAR national series race since his post-2016 Cup Series retirement, and he had not competed in a Truck Series race since 2005, when he got behind the wheel of the No. 25 Ram.
His night ended due to crash damage, but he did not rule out the possibility of a return.
That return won't come this weekend, however.
Tony Stewart replacement confirmed at Atlanta
Kaulig Racing Cup Series driver Ty Dillon has gotten the nod to drive the No. 25 Ram at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) this weekend.
Dillon most recently competed in the Truck Series with Rackley W.A.R. in 2024, when he was a full-time driver up until the season's final five races.
Dillon is a three-time Truck Series race winner, with all three wins coming in 2012 and 2013 during his two full seasons in the series with Richard Childress Racing.
Beyond this coming weekend, the No. 25 Ram only has one confirmed driver for the rest of the season, and that isn't until late October's penultimate race of the season at Martinsville Speedway, when Carson Ferguson is set to drive it.
Ferguson was one of the 15 drivers in the "Ram: Race for the Seat" competition to determine who the team's fourth full-time driver would be. Mini Tyrell ultimately won that competition and has joined Daniel Dye, Brenden Queen, and Justin Haley in the team's full-time lineup.
Saturday's Fr8 208 is set to be shown live on Fox Sports 1 from EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) starting at 1:30 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action!