Cummins has crawled back into the spotlight with a NASCAR sponsorship deal and the kind of chest-thumping PR that only works if you pretend the last decade of diesel scandal never happened.

This time the props are Kaulig Racing and Ram. The product is a big shiny truck, a “Butterbean” driver story, and a Cummins logo slapped on the side like it’s a heritage stamp instead of a warning label.

Three Titans Of What, Exactly?

Kaulig’s whole vibe is celebration and nonchalance. Big smiles. Big clips. “Titans” talk. Like this is a harmless little motorsport romance, not a brand partnership with a company that has had to explain itself to regulators about emissions controls and software tricks.

Nobody is saying Kaulig wrote the code. Nobody is saying Kaulig built the engines. But they are choosing to be the megaphone. They are choosing to be the rolling billboard. That is the point.

The Cummins Script Is Always The Same

The Cummins newsroom copy is pure self-mythology. “Storied engineering”. “Innovation”. “Racing in its DNA”. A hundred years of heritage deployed like a smoke grenade.

And then the hard sell: full-season primary sponsorship, Cummins branding on the livery for every race, and a nice cosy reminder that the Cummins-Ram partnership goes back to 1989.

That last bit is doing a lot of work. It is basically: we’ve been doing this for ages, so stop asking awkward questions. Fuck that.

Kaulig’s Role: Brand Laundering With A Pit Crew

Kaulig is not a neutral bystander here. Kaulig is the stage.

If you agree to front this partnership, you are actively helping to normalise the badge. You are helping to turn the story from “diesel scandal and accountability” into “fast truck and feelgood driver”.

That is complicity in the only way that matters in the PR age: you help bury the stink under noise.

“Legacy” Talk, While The Public Eats The Exhaust

This is what makes me properly angry. They pitch “legacy” and “DNA” and “momentum” while the public record sits there like a dead body in the corner of the room.

Motorsport is perfect for this kind of reputational rinse cycle. Loud. Fast. Patriotic. A million moving parts. Plenty of places for accountability to get “lost in the action”.

Kaulig knows exactly what it is doing. Ram knows exactly what it is doing. Cummins definitely knows what it is doing.

The Driver Is The Human Shield

No hate to the driver. That is how these things work. You pick a likeable face, wrap the story around graft and dreams, and dare anyone to mention the grown-up stuff without looking like a villain.

But the Cummins logo is not a charity badge. It is a corporate choice. It is a corporate history. And it is being paraded like a crown.

Kaulig Should Not Pretend This Is Innocent Fun

If you are happy to ride with Cummins and Ram, then own what you are endorsing.

Don’t give it the “three titans” fairy tale. Don’t act surprised when people connect the dots. Don’t whinge about tone. You are taking the money and providing the platform. That is the deal.

Knife-Edge

Cummins wants the roar of Daytona to drown out the questions. Ram wants the nostalgia. Kaulig wants the factory backing and the headlines.

Fine. Enjoy the champagne.

But don’t expect everyone to clap while you help rebrand a dirty badge as a feelgood motorsport legend. Some of us are going to keep pointing at the logo and saying, loudly, this is what you chose.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

Cummins Confidential : Kaulig Racing – Proud Billboards For Cummins’ Dirty Badge