CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge did not rule Friday on whether to impose a temporary restraining order to prevent former Joe Gibbs Racing director Chris Gabehart from working for rival NASCAR team Spire Motorsports.
U.S. District Judge Susan C Rodriguez of the Western District of North Carolina said attorneys representing JGR, Gabehart and Spear have until Sunday night to come up with a solution that works for all parties.
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If they can’t, she said she will rule in court on Monday.
Meanwhile, Gabehart will be allowed to work for Spire this weekend.
JGR was founded and co-owned by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. JGR had filed for a restraining order earlier this week to prevent Gabehart from working for Spire Motorsports after Spire revealed he had been hired by the upstart team as its chief motorsports officer.
JGR is suing Gabehart for allegedly carrying out a “shameless scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information,” according to court documents. The team accuses Gabehart of obtaining proprietary information with the intent to provide it to Spire, who is also named as a defendant in the case.
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The JGR lawsuit argued in court documents that a forensic audit concluded the group uncovered Google searches about Spire Motorsports, folders named “Spire” and “Past Settings” and more than a dozen images of JGR files containing confidential information and trade secrets.
JGR believes Gabehart violated his non-compete clause and should not have been allowed to work for another NASCAR team for 18 months because of his intimate knowledge of JGR’s car setup and other important information.
“He holds the keys to the kingdom,” JGR attorney Sarah Huchins said in court Friday.
JGR claims Gabehart caused more than $8 million in losses to the organization.
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Gabehart’s attorney, Cary Davis, argued that Gabehart’s role at Spire was completely different from his job at JGR. His role is similar to Spire’s general football manager/head coach role rather than JGR’s offensive coordinator.
Gabehart’s perspective on these events differs from JGR’s.
He admitted taking the photos on his phone and creating the “Spire” folder, but said the folder was for his own evaluation of whether to join the team.
Gabehart claims he paid for his own forensic audit, which revealed “no evidence that I transmitted, distributed, used or otherwise shared any JGR confidential information. No text messages. No email attachments. No dissemination.”
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He added that the JGR lawsuit “is not about protecting trade secrets but about punishing former employees who dared to leave.”
Gabehart’s contentious relationship with JGR erupted last November, and she was officially fired on February 9.
He claimed that his 13-year tenure at JGR was beginning to unravel, with him being forced to serve as team leader for Ty Gibbs, the team owner’s grandson, last season, despite being promoted to competition director at the end of 2024. He claims in court documents that JGR is suing him for “daring to leave” a NASCAR team after the situation with Gibbs’ grandson became untenable within the organization.
Spire Motorsports co-owner Dan Towriss said Friday at IndyCar in Florida that Spire doesn’t have any JGR data, that Gabehart never provided any, and that JGR is angry that Gabehart left “for someone other than a blue-blood team.”
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Spire began building a cup team in 2019 and have managed just one win so far. It has since grown into a three-car organization, with Towriss and TWG Motorsports now the primary owners. The team is run by co-owner Jeff Dickerson who handles day-to-day operations and equips Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez with Chevrolets.
“I’m very happy with the way Spire handled it, Spire didn’t need data from Joe Gibbs Racing. It didn’t have data from Joe Gibbs Racing. It didn’t have data from Joe Gibbs Racing at any time,” Towriss said, adding that Gabehart would not have publicly criticized Ty Gibbs if JGR had not filed the lawsuit.
“I’m sure Chris didn’t want to share some of those details,” Torres said. “But when they claimed that Speyer meandered, you know, in his contract, he had to say…that’s why I left. He wasn’t here to throw a smear campaign.”
In a court filing earlier Friday, an email from Gabhart to Gibbs Chief Financial Officer Tim Carmichael outlined issues between Gabhart and Gibbs’ grandson and daughter-in-law Heather, the team’s co-owners.
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Joe Gibbs and Heather Gibbs attended Friday’s court hearing.
“I’m not sure the resentment Heather and Ty now clearly show toward me will be repaired,” Gabehart wrote. “They are the future leaders of this company and I’m afraid this puts me in a no-win situation.”
Gibbs founded JGR in 1992, which he now co-owns with Ty’s mother, Heather Gibbs.
Gabehart joined JGR in 2012 as an engineer, later became Denny Hamlin’s crew chief and became race director ahead of the 2025 season. He served as crew chief for Hamlin Racing for six seasons, and the two won 22 Cup races, including two Daytona 500s.
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AP Motorsports Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.
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