A federal judge has ruled that Chris Gabehart can continue to work for Spire Motorsports, after Joe Gibbs Racing's legal action against their former NASCAR engineer and his new team.
However, Judge Susan C. Rodriguez stipulated that Gabehart cannot work in any capacity which overlaps with the work he did as JGR's competition director, a role he held until last December.
JGR is suing Gabehart for allegedly stealing proprietary data and secrets from the team after a disagreement with management, and the team filed for a temporary restraining order to stop him working in his new role at Spire (also listed as a defendant in the suit).
The ruling means that Denny Hamlin's former crew chief will be allowed to continue in his recently announced role as Spire's chief motorsports officer, as part of which he oversees various teams under the banner of Spire's owners TWG Global.
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Both parties 'happy' with ruling
Gabehart had spent at least part of the weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida, taking in the IndyCar season opener in which TWG had an interest as the owners of Andretti Autosport. The NASCAR Truck Series also raced on the St Pete course on the Saturday, with James Hinchcliffe and Connor Mosack finishing tenth and 14th respectively for Spire.
Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson said after the ruling was handed down on Monday: “I’m happy with the decision. Obviously, we take trade secrets super seriously, and we’re not hypocrites about it.”
Meanwhile JGR, in their own statement, wrote: “We are pleased with today’s ruling by the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina for a temporary restraining order enforcing the terms of our contract with Chris Gabehart.
"We will continue the legal process to protect our information and fight for what is right for our race team, our employees and our partners.”
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