NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Tim Kuniskis has never hidden what excites him. 

He's the Stellantis auto exec who has run Dodge, Ram, and Jeep and always boosted the horsepower everywhere he's been. He's about personality, noise, and vehicles that make people turn around in parking lots and demand notice. 

Now the Ram Truck Hot Rodder-in-Chief is leaning hard into that philosophy, debuting an all-new family of Ram Muscle Trucks today that is ready to redefine what a factory pickup can be. 

Performance, Picks Up 

For years, performance truck enthusiasts have wanted more than just towing numbers and luxury interiors. They wanted attitude back. They wanted trucks that felt like descendants of tire-smoking legends rather than simply utility tools. Kuniskis and Ram seem to have heard that message loud and clear. 

The new lineup takes the already capable Ram 1500 platform and injects it with a serious dose of performance insanity. Depending on configuration, these trucks range from neck-snapping five-second 0-60 mph performance all the way into four-second territory and even down into the ludicrous three-second range. Those numbers were once the exclusive territory of purpose-built sports cars and supercars, not vehicles designed to haul tools, tow trailers, or carry a family of five. 

Of course, acceleration numbers only tell part of the story. Muscle has always been more than a stopwatch measurement. It is about theater. It is about hearing a supercharger come alive. It is about standing next to a vehicle that looks like it wants to launch off the starting line before it even starts moving. Ram is determined to bring that energy back to its truck lineup.

Ram Smoke Show

Kuniskis also understands something else: If you're going to make a statement, make a big one. Fittingly, one of the first people he lined up against in the Muscle Truck launch is one of speed's best — Tony Stewart. 

That pairing feels perfect. Stewart, a racer whose résumé spans nearly every major form of motorsports, now pilots an 12,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster, making him a fitting benchmark for a truck program built around speed and spectacle. 

For drag racing fans, however, one question immediately comes to mind: What do they run in the quarter-mile? (See the quarter-mile times below.)

Street / Dragstrip / Attitude

That may ultimately become the number enthusiasts remember most. A three-second 0-60 time suggests some serious capability once these trucks find themselves on prepped surfaces and dragstrips around the country. NHRA racers and street-performance fans alike will undoubtedly be watching closely.

Because if Tim Kuniskis has proven anything over the years, it is that he understands enthusiasts. And if these new Ram muscle trucks deliver on the promise of their numbers, don't be surprised if a few of them start appearing in NHRA staging lanes sooner rather than later.

*The Rumble Bee launches with the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8, with availability starting late 2026; Rumble Bee 392 and Rumble Bee SRT arrive in the first half of 2027.