The legal battle between Joe Gibbs Racing and Chris Gabehart/Spire Motorsports is far from being resolved. With both parties involved in the discovery process before the trial begins on February 1, 2027, the latest exhibits filed in the case have cast a dark shadow on JGR’s co-owner, Heather Gibbs, which has resulted in backlash from the fans.
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Bob Pockrass shared the text message on X, which highlights the broken bond with the former JGR competition director. Wally Brown, a long-time trusted employee at JGR, asked Heather Gibbs about the Gabehart situation. To which Heather replied, “I have never seen someone have the keys to the world with a red carpet, completely self implode. We have created a monster. He absolutely can’t lead if we tried to coach him up.”
This conversation happened last season when Gabehart took over the role of competition director and was preparing to call races for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 team. This is the period during which Gabehart argued that he had a falling out with the owners and the leadership group.
During the February ruling over imposing a restraining order on Gabehart, he said, “I am not certain that the resentment that Heather and Ty now clearly show towards me will ever be repaired. And with them being the future leaders of this company, I’m afraid that leaves me in a no-win situation.”
What followed next was his abrupt exit from the team during the off-season, sowing the seeds of a lengthy legal battle between them and Gabehart, along with his new employer, Spire Motorsports.
The text messages even revealed how Heather Gibbs was already plotting a move against Gabehart. “Maybe at the end of the season decide, especially if it poisoned the level of trust between Bell and Adam. Same with the James situation. Can’t have leadership be the cancer.”
It’s not a good look for the organization as a whole, especially when they are involved in a legal feud with Gabehart and Spire. JGR is alleging that Gabehart stole the trade secrets and violated the non-compete clause.
For fans who have been following this dispute for a long time, they had some strong choice of words for Heather Gibbs. Some even went so far as to compare Heather with Teresa Earnhardt.
“Getting that Teresa Earnhardt vibe?” a fan replied under the post shared by Bob Pockrass. Teresa Earnhardt was NASCAR’s public enemy number 1 after Dale Sr’s passing. She had firm control over Earnhardt’s assets, including his race team. Even forcing Dale Jr. to leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. and join Hendrick Motorsports.
Heather Gibbs is seen as the heir to take over the Joe Gibbs Racing empire after Coach Gibbs. For fans who have already witnessed a turbulent split within the NASCAR community, they were quick to call out Heather Gibbs’ hatred towards Gabehart. “Heather Gibbs = Teresa 2.0.”
Teresa Earnhardt’s cold and anti-traditional approach garnered her a nickname, “wicked witch of the south.” And for the time being, it seemed to be attached to Teresa’s name only, but in light of recent revelations, a few fans started calling Heather Gibbs “Nascars new witch.” This post included photo cutouts of Teresa Earnhardt and Heather Gibbs.
It is hard to predict if these text messages can alter the course of the legal dispute. But some fans couldn’t help but predict drama in the legal case that would turn against Joe Gibbs Racing. “Well, Gabehart now has defamation evidence that he could use. Doesn’t matter who it’s to, Heather and Wally calling him cancerous is defaming.”
It is worth noting that this isn’t the first instance where Heather Gibbs’ disdain against Gabehart came to light. “Aside from the legal context here, taking your dogs for a walk so they can pee on your enemy’s car is at least somewhat funny though,” Gluck recently shared on X, which was in direct response to the leaked text by the JGR co-owner.
It is hard to guess what this discovery phase will bring out next, but with the current trend, JGR camp is being painted as villains against an employee who had a different vision than the team owners.