Quinn, who owns 40 percent of the Supercars team, spoke publicly about the move for the first time at the weekend’s Highlands Motorsport Park unveiling of Triple Eight’s 2025 livery.
Triple Eight recently announced it will leave General Motors and return to Ford for 2026, throwing a spotlight on lingering uncertainty around the former brand’s future in Supercars.
GM has been represented in the Australian category since 2023 with the now globally out-of-production Chevrolet Camaro, which replaced the defunct Holden Commodore.
The Camaro program is underpinned by an Intellectual Property deal between Supercars and GM and carries a relatively small sponsorship component for Triple Eight.
Last year GM confirmed it will enter Formula 1 in 2026 with its Cadillac brand, while it is yet to lay out plans beyond the current Camaro for categories such as NASCAR and Supercars
Asked about the Ford move by Highlands TV host Greg Rust, Quinn said: “It started in October last year at Bathurst.
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“Basically, we said to GM ‘what’s the future?’ because they had announced the Formula 1 program and we thought ‘oh, something big is coming of this’.
“And really, there wasn’t any news from it, so we sort of said, well, as a business, we’re always looking for more money. The drivers always look for more wages, so we need more money to pay them.
“To be blunt, we phoned around. Ford were very interested and so the talks began.”
Ford’s global motorsport push also includes a move into the booming F1 arena in 2026 through a powertrain supply deal with Red Bull.
Jamie Whincup explained at the Triple Eight announcement that having Red Bull and Ford tied together in F1 and Supercars is a bonus but was not a driving force behind the manufacturer switch.
While uncertainty over GM’s future appears a concern for Supercars, Quinn sees attention around Triple Eight’s dramatic defection as a boost.
“What we’ve ended up with, I believe, is a fantastic commercial deal for Triple Eight [and] a fantastic deal for Supercars,” he continued.
“It adds to the petrol, the fuel. Good for the media.
“We’ve been with Ford before, so it’s not new news. I think for Triple Eight, the association with Ford is going to open up so many opportunities for us as a business.
“The one thing I said to the guys when they found out was just tell me we can win with a Mustang, and they both said yes. That’s all we need to do.”
Triple Eight’s other tie-ups with Ford are expected to include involvement in GT racing, the Finke Desert Race and the Mustang Cup, should the Blue Oval bring that to Australia.
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