Chris Gabehart has fired back against accusations that he violated the temporary restraining order against him, which restricts what he can do in NASCAR for Spire Motorsports.

Gabehart is the subject of a lawsuit alleging that he stole proprietary information from Joe Gibbs Racing when he was working with the team as their competition director, and is currently under an order banning him from undertaking duties for Spire which are similar to his old role.

However, Joe Gibbs Racing claims that pictures taken at Bristol during the weekend's action show Gabehart doing more than executive-level activities, contrary to Judge Susan C. Rodriguez's order.

The team issued a pair of declarations by Ty Gibbs' social media manager, David Biro, and by competition director Wally Brown, in which Brown accused Gabehart of participating in competition director-level activities.

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Chris Gabehart denies calling races for Spire

Gabehart filed a declaration denying the accusations in a declaration on Tuesday, pointing out that his radios didn't have mics – meaning that he couldn't have active input.

"I do not call races, serve as a crew chief, or make car-by-car Cup Series setup decisions, race engineering determinations, or Sunday race management calls," he insisted.

His legal team added: “It is an improper attempt to introduce surveillance photos as evidence outside the briefing schedule. Unable to substantiate its claims, JGR has resorted to stalking Mr. Gabehart at racetracks, then rushing to this Court to spin routine behavior into suggested misconduct. The Court should give this filing no weight.”

Why is Joe Gibbs Racing suing Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports?

Joe Gibbs Racing alleges that after demanding additional authority within the team during the offseason, which was rebuffed by Joe Gibbs, Gabehart "immediately embarked on a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information and use it for the benefit of a direct competitor in NASCAR - Spire Motorsports".

As a result of that, Joe Gibbs Racing says that they have filed the lawsuit seeking "extensive damages and enjoin Defendant from violating his contractual obligations and wrongfully using JGR’s confidential information and trade secrets".

Joe Gibbs Racing says that after his demand for more authority was denied, Gabehart informed Joe Gibbs that he wanted to leave the team. Then, in the days that followed his departure, Gabehart had been meeting with Spire Motorsports owner Jeff Dickerson.

JGR said this meeting aroused their suspicions, and they decided to undertake a forensic investigation into Gabehart's company laptop, finding "shocking" results, uncovering what they call a "brazen theft of its confidential and trade secrets" when examining Gabehart's laptop. The filing alleges:

  • JGR Uncovers Defendant’s Brazen Theft of Its Confidential Information and Trade Secrets.
  • Defendant had synced his personal Google Drive with his JGR laptop.
  • Defendant had repeatedly conducted Google searches and online research about Spire during October and November of 2025.
  • The Google Drive contained a folder titled “Spire” and a subfolder titled “Past Setups.”
  • Defendant had possession of more than a dozen photos of the screen of his JGR laptop taken on November 7, 2025. These photos contained images of JGR files containing Confidential Information and Trade Secrets.

Ultimately, JGR is seeking relief to prevent any use or disclosure of its confidential information or trade secrets, as well as damages it believes exceed $8 million.

Initially, Spire Motorsports were not accused of any wrongdoing, but they were later added to the lawsuit when they hired Gabehart as their Chief Motorsports Officer. Joe Gibbs Racing and their attorney has since accused Spire of cheating.

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