Whilst most of the NASCAR world was fixated on a courtroom in Charlotte over the last two weeks, a surprising bit of news went under the radar.
On day three of the NASCAR vs 23XI and Front Row antitrust lawsuit, Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press confirmed that Chris Gabehart had left Joe Gibbs Racing ahead of the 2026 season.
Ahead of the 2025 season, Gabehart was promoted to the role of Director of Competition at JGR, leaving his previous role as crew chief of Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Toyota to do so.
However, he has now left the organization with immediate effect, with rumors that he could join rival Cup Series outfit Spire Motorsports.
Kraft concerned for JGR
In light of the news, it was discussed on a recent episode of the Door Bumper Clear podcast, and NASCAR spotter Freddie Kraft has claimed it is a concern for the team heading into 2026.
Kraft is the spotter for Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 23XI Toyota - a team that has close ties and a technical alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing - and offered an insight into the sort of thing Gabehart brought to the table.
“This is, I would say, a concern,” Kraft said. “It's hard to imagine how you let this guy walk out the door.
“He was so integrated in everything. The analytics side of everything, you know what I mean?
“I remember he was one of the ones that…all the superspeedway stuff we do, of all the plans or whatever you want to call it for how we're going to run these superspeedway races, he was very integral in parts of that.
“Now he takes all that wealth of information, and obviously I don't know how much he can bring with him as far as what he can share and what he can't share, he won't be using the direct setup from JGR, but he's smart enough to just come up with his own ideas.”
Joe Gibbs Racing has yet to make any official comment on the matter or indeed confirm who will replace Gabehart in his former role.
The 2025 NASCAR season kicks off at Daytona International Speedway the week commencing February 9.
