JGR's VP of Racing Operations Jimmy Makar faces three main hurdles in switching from Chevrolet to Toyota. (Darrell Ingham/Getty Images for NASCAR Photo)

"There will be a learning curve," said Jimmy Makar, the team's senior vice president of racing operations and the man who was crew chief during Bobby Labonte's championship run with JGR in 2000. "How big it will be, I'm not really sure yet. The car part of it, the aerodynamics, will not be that big. The engine side, yes, there's quite a bit to be learned there. That's so much more manufacturer-specific than the body is today. There's going to be a huge learning curve there – reliability, durability. What kind of things become issues that we didn't have before?"

Still, the timing of the change does make it easier.

"It would have been much harder with the old car," Makar said. "Obviously, the last several years, as it's progressed, NASCAR has drawn the rules such that the cars are a lot more similar, which makes changing over a lot easier. Back in the mid- to late-90s, it would have been a huge deal to change over, because there would have been a lot of wind-tunnel testing, a lot of unknowns. So most of the things we were working on last year would just transfer over."

"I think this is by far the best way for us to do it," added Greg Zipadelli, crew chief for two-time Sprint Cup Champion Tony Stewart. "The timing is right. The biggest thing is the motors and making sure Mark (Cronquist) has enough time and the parts and pieces to make sure they're where they need to be."

Regardless of the learning curve and the challenges ahead, though, the team is confident. "We feel like we can go to Daytona and challenge for the pole and the win," said Steve Addington, crew chief of the No. 18 JGR Toyota that Kyle Busch will pilot this season.

"I would be very, very disappointed if I go to the Daytona 500 and don't think I have a chance to win after the last couple of years," added Zipadelli. "I think we've given three or four of them up. … I truly feel like we're going to go down there and have an opportunity to win."

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