Triple Eight’s bombshell announcement last month came with two key claims; it will become the Blue Oval’s new homologation team and KRE will take over as the marque’s single engine supplier.
Both are technically out of Triple Eight’s hands as the first is decided by a yet-to-be-struck vote between all Ford teams and the latter is the decision of Supercars.
Ratification of Triple Eight as the HT is a matter of when not if as Ford’s wishes will be followed among its own fleet, but engines are now a significant unknown amid diverging views.
KRE, the Brisbane engine shop run by Ken and Wendy McNamara that has long serviced Triple Eight, has made it clear it is willing do the Ford engines, but will not abandon GM.
So, the question has become whether one entity should be allowed to hold control engine supply contracts for both GM and Ford at the same time.
Naturally, Triple Eight made sure Ford was onboard with its plan before Jamie Whincup declared it would happen during the shock announcement in Charlotte, North Carolina.
However, it emerged this week that GM – clearly jilted after being blindsided by Triple Eight’s news – is among those pushing back.
Local GM bosses made their position clear in Sydney on Thursday, albeit with an acknowledgement that it’s not GM’s decision to make. That rests with Supercars.
Speedcafe understands Supercars has already communicated a position to key parties that a double-up should not occur, although it appears no final call has been made.
Supercars’ motorsport manager Tim Edwards admitted to Speedcafe on Wednesday that a formal process for appointing control engine suppliers was not in place when the model took hold for Gen3.
KRE and Herrod Performance Engines (subsequently bought out by Ford homologation team Dick Johnson Racing) largely fell into place by default.
While efforts to formalise a process are currently taking place, Edwards was reluctant to share Supercars’ view on whether one entity should be responsible for multiple brands.
“It would probably not be appropriate for me to comment on,” Edwards said. “It’s a much bigger strategic position. It’s not something we’re going to talk about publicly.”
Triple Eight has argued from the moment it made the Ford announcement that the sport would benefit greatly from KRE doing both engines, if not the new-for-2026 Toyota as well.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for the sport, because he’s the best in the business by far,” team manager Mark Dutton told Speedcafe of McNamara.
“So that means the racing is better, the processes are better. That’s what you want. It’s critical that he’s doing the engines.”
Floating the prospect of KRE also doing the Toyotas is mischievous at best, given Walkinshaw Andretti United is already at work with TRD in the USA and parts suppliers in the UK on its program.
WAU had coveted a manufacturer deal and return to homologation team status in part so that it can control its own destiny with engines for the first time since Gen3 began.
While Triple Eight argues the benefits of a KRE double-up, others are concerned by what – at least on the surface – appears a direct conflict of interest and placing too much control with one entity.
It would also leave WAU and Toyota, which are sternly against the KRE/Ford push, positioned as the odd ones out.
Opinions are meanwhile divided among other current Ford teams as to whether the KRE move should happen.
Reluctant to speak publicly on the matter for now, the universally respected McNamara is very much the man in the middle of a Supercars engine circus that is not what it once was.
A control engine contract in Supercars is essentially a servicing agreement, whereby each team pays a set price per car for the supplier to monitor performance and perform rebuilds at select intervals.
It’s not a hugely profitable enterprise and one, in KRE’s case, that is dwarfed by the importance of its Sprintcar operations, which are believed to account for a far bigger percentage of its overall business.
There is no direct payment from Supercars. Time and money spent on mopping up reliability issues or endlessly chasing minute parity improvements comes from the engine supplier’s pocket.
So, what happens next?
When quizzed on the topic during a press conference on Friday, Whincup and DJR boss David Noble both admitted they were about to scurry into meetings with their respective manufacturers.
Technically there is no crisis. Ford has a control engine supplier, the DJR-run Motorsport Powertrains, which is all set up to operate on an ongoing basis.
Triple Eight, though, is steadfast that it wants its man McNamara and appears confident a solution will be found once the dust settles from its pre-season bombshell.
If there’s an irony in the current deadlock, it’s the fact Triple Eight originally designed the Gen3 chassis for Supercars with the Ford Coyote as a control engine across both Mustang and Camaro.
Those engines would, of course, have been done by KRE, which scrambled to get the Chevrolet engine up and running after Ford knocked the control Coyote plan firmly on the head.
A ‘white label’ engine across both cars was deemed a step too far for the category, which then endured two years of pain balancing the pushrod Chevrolet and double-overhead cam Coyote.
The prospect of KRE taking over the Ford supply was also floated at the end of 2023 amid significant turmoil in the Blue Oval camp, which ultimately resulted in DJR buying out Herrod.
As Gen3 begins its third season, Supercars is again at an engine crossroads and the stakes – and emotions – are higher than ever.
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