Joe Gibbs Racing is now not only suing a former employee, but also the rival team that currently employs him. Spire Motorsports is now an additional defendant in the lawsuit filed by JGR last week against former competition director Chris Gabehart.
In the initial lawsuit against Gabehart, JGR alleged that he stole classified information in order to be used in a future job at Spire. Gabehart has vehemently denied this accusation, calling it ‘frivolous’ and ‘retaliatory’. His hiring at Spire Motorsports as Chief Motorsports Officer wasn’t publicly announced until Saturday. Joe Gibbs confirmed Gabehart’s departure to the Associated Press in December.
In their latest filing, JGR is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would disallow Gabehart from working at Spire for 18 months. If their motion is successful, JGR will have catalyzed the judicial blocking of a major hire by one of their foremost competitors.
As part of JGR’s most recent filing, it’s now clear that the team’s termination letter to Gabehart referenced his alleged wrongdoings. That letter reads as follows.
Mr. Gabehart,
Joe Gibbs Racing, LLC (“JGR”) hereby terminates your Employment Agreement under
Sections 4(b)(i), (iii), and (iv). JGR has made this determination in good faith based on your violations of Section 5 of the Employment Agreement, JGR policies and procedures relating to the safeguarding of confidential information, and the North Carolina Trade Secrets Protection Act and federal Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. Specifically, you misappropriated JGR’s confidential information and trade secrets to personal accounts and devices with the intent to use and/or disclose this information to a direct competitor of JGR’s. This behavior which was recently confirmed by a third-party forensic review of your personal cell phone and personal Google Drive account.
As referenced in the termination letter, JGR believes Gabehart connected his personal devices and accounts to team equipment in order to download sensitive information to be used against JGR in the future. He’s also accused of taking photos of proprietary information on a computer screen with his personal cell phone.
Chris Gabehart worked at Joe Gibbs Racing from 2012 to 2025. He started out as an engineer before becoming a crew chief for much of his time with the organization. Gabehart became competition director before the 2025 season, and held that title until the most recent off-season.
