Leading up to the 2026 NASCAR season, NASCAR announced a series of changes to the rules. At the center of the controversy is a policy that gives original equipment manufacturers up to four guaranteed starting positions for the first three races of the season. This move has ignited widespread discussion about fairness in competition.

NASCAR Managing Director of Racing Communications Mike Forde and Nate Ryan of NASCAR.com and NBC Sports discussed the rule changes on their podcast. They gave insight into the dirty laundry from Toyota, revisiting its troubled early years in the sport, and if that could be the reason why NASCAR is seemingly ‘helping’ RAM today.

Did Toyota’s early struggles shape the new OEM rule?

The updated new rule has relevance with RAM, a prominent automaker, making its official return to NASCAR’s national series. They are teaming up with Kaulig Racing for the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The re-entry of the mogul will see the team launch five full-time trucks, with veteran driver Tony Stewart.

Stewart will be preparing to compete at the Daytona Opener in Kaulig’s All-Star vehicle. This high-profile comeback adds a gravity to the rule change and furthers discussions on whether newcomers should be granted provisional entries.

One follow-up Ryan wanted to discuss with Forde was specifically the Toyota sector. This loomed large in 2007, when it certainly was a different NASCAR and a different landscape than 20 years later. Ryan claimed he remembers everything when it comes to the automakers’ first couple of years in the landscape of NASCAR. He specifically remembers when they were struggling.

With the landscape of racing back then, Ryan remembers a team known as Team RedBull. At the time, the team had two drivers who could win the Cup Series. However, they had only made roughly half of the races that year. He questioned specifically if NASCAR, with this history in mind, was proactive about it or if it was just something that RAM was lobbying for as they came back into the game.

“Did they ask for this kind of dispensation as they’re coming back to NASCAR?” Ryan questioned.

It’s known that RAM has spent a large amount of money funding their return. According to Ryan, they have already spent “God knows how much.” Which is potentially eight or nine figures of money invested in their return.

Toyota teams were struggling to even qualify, which was bad for the manufacturer and NASCAR’s image. To not let that embarrassment continue, NASCAR is widely believed to have worked more closely with Toyota teams, offering them all kinds of help to stabilize the situation. Ryan’s point is that NASCAR learned from that experience.

Instead of fixing things quietly, he’s asking whether NASCAR is being open and proactive with RAM so a new manufacturer doesn’t face the same problems that Toyota did.

“I believe this was a NASCAR program, to be perfectly candid. I am not 100 percent sure on that, on what came first, chicken or egg. My understanding is that this was something that we wanted to put in place, to sort of act as a safety net for a new OEM. Not RAM specifically, but to anyone moving forward,” said Forde.

As controversial as the new rule changes are, being an OEM trying to break into the sport cannot be an easy road to take. Forde said he wouldn’t be surprised if they see something like this happen again, especially if Dodge tries to make a return to the Cup series.

“I think this some learnings from 2007 and even earlier, and to help track new OEMs and make their entry into the sport a little smoother,” said Forde.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. is concerned about the new rule

The move of the new OEM rule has ignited Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s public criticism. Earnhardt responded to the announcement, expressing his preference for keeping a merit-based approach. He suggested that teams need to earn their spots on the track by qualifying, not by guaranteed spots.

“If I were a new OEM, I would reject this provision and demand to earn my spot,” said Earnhardt.

Earnhardt’s comments have lit the spark of concerns among other traditionalists and drivers who believe that spots should be earned. The debate touches on ongoing tensions in NASCAR between opening the sport to new participants and maintaining the integrity of competition.

This OEM provisional rule is similar to the introduced rule last year, allowing a spot for a renowned driver. Driver Helio Castroneves used the Open Exemption Provisional in 2025, and Jimmie Johnson will use it as well this upcoming season. While those drivers would not receive money, RAM entries would be credited with points for their finishes.