Hours after Joe Gibbs Racing urged the court to consider fresh evidence claiming Chris Gabehart’s new title at Spire mirrored his old competition director role, Judge Susan C. Rodriguez delivered her ruling. JGR argued that Spire’s own description of Gabehart’s duties proved he was stepping into an almost identical position, violating his noncompete and warranting an immediate, sweeping restraining order. But when the decision finally came down, the judge took a very different approach. She issued only a limited TRO, stopping short of the full shutdown JGR asked.
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Judge declines to sideline Gabehart in the JGR lawsuit
“Other duties are fair game,” Judge Rodriguez said as she issued a sharply limited restraining order that stopped far short of what Joe Gibbs Racing hoped to achieve. In a brief 10-minute hearing of the JGR lawsuit, Judge Susan C. Rodriguez ruled that Chris Gabehart is prohibited only from performing tasks at Spire Motorsports that directly overlap with his former responsibilities as JGR’s competition director. Crucially, she refused to bar him from continuing his new job.
For JGR, this is a major setback. The team entered federal court seeking a sweeping Temporary Restraining Order that would effectively sideline Gabehart and freeze his involvement with Spire during litigation. Instead, the judge made it clear that the court did not see grounds to halt his employment as the JGR lawsuit continues. To reinforce that point, she placed a $100,000 bond on JGR, a financial guarantee required when a party obtains a restraining order that could harm the other side.
From the perspective of Gabehart and Spire, the ruling changes nothing. They have consistently maintained that Gabehart’s role as Chief Motorsports Officer at Spire is fundamentally different from the day-to-day competition director position he held at JGR. The judge’s order aligns with that narrative. It allows Gabehart to continue performing “other duties” at Spire without interruption.
Judge Susan C Rodriguez has order a very limited restraining order against Chris Gabehart that prevents him from doing anything at Spire that overlapped with his competition director role at JGR
She is not preventing Gabehart from continuing to work at Spire. From the Gabehart,…
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) March 2, 2026
“I’m happy with the decision. We take trade secrets super serious and we’re not hypocrites about it,” Spire co-owner and CEO Jeff Dickerson said after the ruling.
However, the ruling does require Gabehart to return all JGR data and information, a point the court emphasized as the litigation continues to unfold. Both sides will return to court on March 16, when the judge will address JGR’s request for expedited discovery and a broader preliminary injunction.
For now, though, JGR walks away with little more than a symbolic restriction and a six-figure financial burden. On the other hand, Spire and Gabehart move forward largely unhindered. The final outcome still looks far away as the JGR lawsuit moves forward.
JGR holds firm
Statement from Joe Gibbs Racing on today’s ruling emphasized confidence rather than defeat. “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.”
For Joe Gibbs Racing, the push for a Temporary Restraining Order in the JGR lawsuit was always about one thing – stopping Chris Gabehart from performing any duties at Spire that resembled his work as competition director. The team sought strict limitations. They wanted to block him from overseeing competition, influencing technical direction, or using any proprietary knowledge acquired during his JGR tenure. They also asked the court to compel Gabehart to undergo a comprehensive forensic review, return all confidential data, and abide by an 18-month injunction.
JGR’s urgency stems from what they labeled “shocking” digital evidence: Gabehart allegedly synced his personal Google Drive with his JGR-issued laptop, executed repeated Spire-related searches in late 2025, maintained a “Spire” folder containing “Past Setups,” and saved over a dozen images of sensitive internal screens. To JGR, this pattern reflects a calculated effort to preserve and potentially leverage confidential material.
But despite those allegations, the court issued only a limited restraining order and prohibited Gabehart from engaging in tasks at Spire that overlap directly with his prior competition director role. Everything else, as Judge Rodriguez noted, remains “fair game.”
The next showdown arrives March 16, when the court will evaluate expedited discovery and whether a broader preliminary injunction is warranted.
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