Joe Gibbs Racing announced Monday that its four-car operation will switch from Toyota to Nissan-powered cars in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2018– the news catching most of the national media and racing insiders off-guard.
Team owner Joe Gibbs considers it a coup that they were even able to keep the past six months of negotiations with Nissan under wraps before Monday’s big announcement — only months into the 2017 season.
“I don’t think the timing was a big issue, we just wanted to make sure we were in control of it,” Gibbs said. “It’s very hard to keep secrets in this sport.