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Chris Gabehart said in a court filing Wednesday that the lawsuit against him by former employer Joe Gibbs Racing was not about protecting trade secrets, but rather “punish a former employee for daring to leave.”
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And while seemingly less consequential on the merits of the lawsuit itself, Gabehart also revealed his reasons for leaving Joe Gibbs Racing citing a culture of dysfunction with driver Ty Gibbs at the center of the tension. Ty Gibbs is the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs and fourth-year driver of the No. 54 Toyota.
Joe Gibbs Racing sued Gabehart last week, seeking damages of more than $8 million, for allegedly engaging in a “brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive data” and take it with him to Spire Motorsports, which hired him last week as director of motorsports. JGR amended the suit to include Spire as a defendant on Tuesday.
Prior to joining Spire, Gabehart served as competition director for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025 during his 13th season with the organization. Most notably, Gabehart has won 22 races as crew chief for Denny Hamlin, with five championship finishes of sixth or better during the 2019 and 2024 seasons. They have two victories at the Daytona 500.
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Joe Gibbs Racing also filed a restraining order and motion for an injunction to prevent Gabehart from working at Spire. An initial hearing was scheduled for Friday afternoon in the Western District of North Carolina courtroom.
As for why Gabehart left, the italicized text below is taken directly from the record, suggesting a culture of dysfunction that ultimately contributed to him feeling misled and undermined.
“I informed JGR that the position was not at all as advertised. I was promised a COO type role overseeing all competitive operations with autonomy to lead. Instead, I found myself constantly in contact with Coach. (Joe) Gibbs, JGR senior management, and his family members when I was making even routine competitive decisions – a dysfunctional organizational structure in which I could not continue.
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Gabehart said Coach Gibbs pressured him to take over as crew chief for the 23-year-old driver. He finally spent some time in the pits over the summer and earned an additional $25,000 per race each time he did so.
“I thought the No. 54 car should be managed and held accountable the same as the other cars in the organization. Instead, the No. 54 car was managed directly by Coach Gibbs and everyone in the organization knew it.
“From the start of the 2025 season, Coach Gibbs repeatedly pressured me to take over as crew chief of the No. 54 car. I consistently refused, explaining that as competition director I did not believe it was the right decision, that it would be detrimental to the long-term development of the team, and that I did not want to be crew chief of the No. 54 car or any other car. Despite my objections, Coach Gibbs and the owner continued to pressure, and I eventually gave in to the pressure first helping the #54 team more behind the scenes and then, beginning June 28, 2025, publicly acting as crew chief and calling races on Sundays for nine consecutive races before returning those duties to the original crew chief, Tyler Allen, against strong ownership desires, when I made it clear I did not want to. serve as a long-term team leader.
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Gabehart said decisions about the No. 54 car were made without his input. ‘advice or contribution’ and that the driver, Ty Gibbs, was not held to the same standards for competition participation as his teammates Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin.
On November 6, Gaebhart secured a meeting with Coach Gibbs to discuss the schism and they agreed that a separation would be most amendable. Gabehart says JGR stopped paying him in November while he negotiated severance terms with the organization.
JGR has since sued Gabehart, seeking more than $8 million in damages and the possibility of additional harm if the former competition director continues to work in organizational leadership positions at Spire Motorsports. Joe Gibbs Racing sued Gabehart and Spire after conducting a forensic audit that led the organization to believe the former employee had violated nondisclosure agreements and the state’s trade protection law.
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JGR also requested that Gabehart turn over any remaining proprietary information used at Spire.
Read also:
Joe Gibbs Racing seeks $8 million in damages from former racing director Chris Gabehart
Joe Gibbs Racing now pursues Spire and Chris Gabehart
For his part, Gabehart wrote that he paid for his own forensic audit and that it showed “No evidence that I have transmitted, distributed, used or otherwise shared JGR confidential information. No text messages. No email attachments. No broadcast. Gabehart shared a letter (below) that shows Spire Motorsports’ willingness to also undergo an audit to show that it did not receive or use JGR’s proprietary data.
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02/25/2026 Gaberhart Review Email 02/11/2026 by mattweavermedia
Gabehart says the above letter was ignored and Joe Gibbs Racing instead filed a legal complaint. The lawsuit claims Gabehart created a folder on his JGR account titled “Spire” and synced it with his personal accounts. The 44-year-old engineer has not denied creating or accessing the file, but claims he did so only to evaluate the decision to leave JGR for Speyer. Gabehart says he removed all proprietary information from his devices and shared none with Spire.
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“This lawsuit is not about protecting trade secrets, it is about punishing a former employee for daring to leave.
“Granting an injunction and preventing me from working at NASCAR, where I have spent my entire career, would deprive me of my livelihood and my ability to work in my chosen profession. Granting the injunction requested by JGR would effectively prevent me from earning a living in the only industry in which I have developed expertise during my professional career.”
The full legal response to Chris Gabehart’s lawsuit is available below.
2 25 2026 Gaberhart Declaration by mattweavermedia
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