The latest blockbuster NASCAR lawsuit has a fresh update with Chris Gabehart filing his defense against those explosive claims by Joe Gibbs Racing.
Last week the Cup Series team filed a blockbuster suit alleging that after demanding additional authority within the team, which was rebuffed by Joe Gibbs, Gabehart had "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".
Gabehart, who was crew chief for Denny Hamlin in the JGR organization from 2019 to 2024 before he was unexpectedly promoted to competition director, took to social media on Friday evening to release a statement strenuously denying any wrongdoing.
In a stinging 150-word rebuke, Gabehart called the move from his former team 'spiteful' and warned that a full legal response would follow in the days to come.
Well, that full legal response has now been filed, and in it Gabehart claims he did not provide confidential JGR information to anybody else.
Gabehart also claims that among other things he was not paid from November 2025 to the time he received his termination letter from JGR earlier this month. He also claims insurance wasn’t transferred to COBRA properly and says he has had health insurance claims denied.
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Gabehart makes Joe and Ty Gibbs claims
Gabehart also claims that his new role as competition director was undermined in 2025 because the No. 54 car driven by Ty Gibbs was managed directly by Coach Gibbs “and everyone in the organization knew it”.
Gabehart says he was pressured constantly by Coach Gibbs to act as crew chief for the No. 54 car, something he would eventually concede to do for nine races in 2025. He claims his role was undermined by what amounted to a “dysfunctional organizational structure”.
The No. 54 car, Gabehart says, was given differential treatment and that “critically the No. 54 driver was not held to the same meeting attendance standards as others on the team”.
The next big landmark in the case comes on Friday (February 27) when a hearing in Charlotte (1pm ET) will be held to rule on a JGR bid for an injunction to stop Gabehart taking up his new role at Spire.
