Mini Tyrrell Wins "RAM: Race For The Seat" NASCAR Truck Series Ride

The “Race for the Seat” is over, and the driver of the fifth and final Kaulig Racing Ram in the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season has been decided. 15 drivers entered to compete for a full-time ride behind the wheel of the No. 14 Ram for Kaulig, and in the end it’s Mini Tyrrell of the zMAX CARS Tour that will take the seat starting on February 13 at Daytona International Speedway.

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2026 CARS Tour at Southern National Motorsports Park

The 21-year-old Tyrrell, whose real name is Timmy, beat out Dirt Late Model standout Carson Ferguson, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Michael Christopher Jr., and fellow CARS Tour racer Landon Huffman, following a Late Model Stock Car showdown at South Boston Speedway as seen in the eighth and final episode of the “RAM: Race for the Seat” challenge.

And now, Tyrrell can finally speak about the secret he’s been keeping since late November, and how his life has been turned upside down in the best way possible.

“It’s changed my life in every way, shape, and form,” Tyrrell told FloRacing. “The biggest thing is I’m not around our shop anymore at our family business of Convenience Tire and Auto in Manassas, Virginia. I’m now living in North Carolina to be able to be at Kaulig Racing every day. That’s probably the biggest change. Being away from home is a challenge, but having to move for this opportunity of a lifetime is amazing.”

Tyrrell has been racing with the CARS Tour full-time since 2019. Last year he scored three victories and finished fifth in the points standings. He probably should have had a couple more victories too as he led 89 laps at Caraway before getting crashed late, and led a bunch of laps at South Boston Speedway near the end of the season before getting spun out there too. But his biggest win of the season came at the end of July at Hickory Motor Speedway. He was on the verge of ending his season prematurely due to a lack of funding, but winning the $50,000 Throwback Classic propelled him to be able to make it through the end of the year.

Now, less than six months later, he’ll be racing full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in a fully-funded ride with Ram Trucks and Kaulig Racing. Tyrrell explained that he was hit with a ton of different emotions when he realized that he had won.

“Going into that final race was probably the most nerve-wracking experience of my life. I was just so anxious. Everything I’ve ever done in the last 17 years of my life has been dedicated towards racing, and this was the opportunity that I’ve fought for every day grinding away in Late Models trying to make it. Everything led up to that point. Everything was replaying in my head. It kind of sounds cliche like when someone dies and they say that you replay all of the moments that matter before it happens. But that’s what I experienced. It was like I was having an instant flashback. Like, the first moment my dad put me in a go-kart, going to the track for the first time, winning go-kart races. Going Late Model racing with Dad. And then it happened. I don’t even know the words to describe it,”

After nearly three weeks of being locked in a house with 14 other racers without phones and television, completely cut off from the outside world, Tyrrell said the first person he called was his father, Timmy.

“I got back to my phone around 1:30 in the morning on Wednesday, November 19. I guess technically it was Thursday. I stepped into the lobby and I called my dad. I woke him up and I don’t know why, but I asked him who he was around,” Tyrrell explained with a laugh. “He said, ‘It’s just me and mom. We’re sleeping.’ And the next words out of my mouth were, ‘I did it, Dad. I won. I got the ride. I got the seat.’ He just immediately broke down. Him and my mom both.”

Watch: Mini Tyrrell Breaks Down Storybook Victory At Dominion

Now, with the season-opener at Daytona a week away, Tyrrell said it’s time for the real work to begin. Between having races at five different road courses this season, live pit stops, drafting tracks, Tyrrell said there’s a lot of things this season that he’ll have to adapt to quickly.

But he also said that figuring out how to adapt quickly is one of his goals for his rookie season.

“I want to prove that I belong here and I am a race car driver, not just a kid that won a golden ticket from a TV show. Even though these weren’t just 15 random race car drivers, they were 15 of the best up-and-coming drivers. But that’s my goal. I need to finish every race and be on the lead lap and keep the truck in one piece. I want to bring a certain standard of respect to Kaulig Racing and Ram, and show that I respect the equipment and will bring it home in one piece. I want to win, and I’ll do everything I can to win. But if we have a solid year and good finishes and most of my trucks are clean, then I can leave Homestead in November and be happy.

“I know that if I can beat these guys (on the show), then I can go out and beat the competition in the Truck Series. I might not do it on my first try, but I’m going to figure it out, get good at it, and I’m going to do it.”

Tyrrell’s other goal for 2026 is to use the bigger platform that he now has to help his Mini’s Mission charitable foundation grow even larger. Tyrrell has hosted the “Mini’s Mission 125” CARS Tour race at Virginia’s Dominion Raceway for the last three years. The event pairs CARS Tour drivers and teams with a family whose child is receiving treatment for serious illnesses at the children’s hospital at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. It’s become an event that everybody involved with the CARS Tour circles on their calendar each season. Tyrrell said the event will take place once again this season, and he will be able to race in it again as he tries to defend his victory from last year.

“As of now we’re still going to do at least six CARS Tour races this year, and that is still definitely happening,” Tyrrell explained. “Thankfully, it’s fallen on an off week for the Trucks. I plan to try to somehow top last year’s. This year will be tough with how busy me and my family are, but we’re going to find time and make it bigger and better like we always do.

“I’m really excited to see what this opportunity for me with breaking into the top three levels of NASCAR can open for Mini’s Mission. I can build a lot more connections at the race track. It will put me in front of a lot more people. I want to drive as much attention as I can to Mini’s Mission. I want to use this platform to my advantage to keep getting Mini’s Mission out there and hopefully get more people involved. It’s always been a thought of mine that if I could get to this level then maybe we could do this at a NASCAR race and do something like we do at Dominion. You never know. It might not happen this year, but it’s something I’ll be working on for sure.”