While the Chris Gabehart vs. Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit did not seem to catch as much fire as NASCAR’s antitrust lawsuit, there have been some recent developments. The claims that Spire Motorsports’ side has put forward could land Joe Gibbs and his entire multi-million dollar team operation in major legal trouble.

Joe Gibbs’ operation is under possible threat

As the plaintiffs and defendants prepare for the preliminary injunction hearing, Spire Motorsports’ filing of Chris Gabehart’s side has revealed something rather interesting. While a lot of the information has been redacted, it claims that Joe Gibbs Racing had stopped paying Gabehart, which directly violated their contract. Alternatively, it claims that the team terminated him “without cause.”

“The restrictive covenant at issue is facially inapplicable because Gabehart was terminated without cause or, alternatively, JGR breached the agreement by failing to pay him,” read a part of a section of Spire’s filing.

This is certainly interesting. While it does not blow the lawsuit wide open, as one might expect to, considering it’s an allegation, it’s still a serious one. Failing to make payment to any of the team’s members can land Joe Gibbs in a lot of trouble.

Joe Gibbs Racing initially filed the lawsuit against Chris Gabehart earlier in February, claiming he had shared sensitive team information, including setups, with Spire Motorsports, where he was prepared to join after his ‘termination’ from the team. This was an interesting aspect in itself, as Gabehart had earlier decided to resign from the team after a disagreement with the administration, but was later terminated.

In their filing, Spire Motorsports not only claims this violation of contract, but also that there is no evidence of Gabehart sharing any sensitive information with them. Another claim that Spire denied was paying Gabehart’s legal fees. As of early this morning, JGR also submitted its filing for the preliminary injunction hearing, which will be held tomorrow.

Timeline of the Joe Gibbs Racing – Chris Gabehart conflict

There seems to be a lot going on in the lawsuit, but here is a simplified version of the most significant events that led to the lawsuit.

November 2025

Gabehart met with Joe Gibbs, expressing dissatisfaction with his role. After having worked with the organization since 2012, he wanted full control of competition operations, which was later rejected.

It was around this time that Gabehart first indicated that he would like to resign from JGR, and both sides began the discussion of a potential separation. Later in the month, Gabehart left the organization.

February 9, 2026

During the legal process, JGR revealed that Gabehart was terminated from his services on this date. He had already discussed his role with Spire Motorsports, and a fully confirmed contract was in the works.

February 19

Joe Gibbs Racing filed a federal lawsuit in North Carolina against Chris Gabehart, alleging he stole trade secrets from the team and sensitive data, which he then planned to share with Spire. They also claimed that he had a separate drive on his work computer, named after the latter team.

Two days later, on the 21 of February, Spire Motorsports officially hired Gabehart as their Chief Motorsports Officer.

Late February, 2026

JGR then filed an amended complaint, adding Spire Motorsports as a defendant. Furthermore, they requested a temporary restraining order on Gabehart to stop him from working in a similar role at Spire. If he had stolen any data, as JGR claimed, then this was expected to stop the team from potentially using it.

Around this same time, Chris Gabehart claimed that the lawsuit was ‘retaliatory,’ denying sharing any data, which JGR claimed.

Early March, 2026

The federal judge issued a limited restraining order for Gabehart as per JGR’s request. According to this, he was allowed to work at Spire Motorsports, but could not perform duties similar to his role at his previous organization. Moreover, they also ordered him to return any confidential data.

There was yet another extremely interesting angle of the lawsuit. Joe Gibbs Racing earlier revealed hiring a private investigator to keep an eye on Gabehart before filing the lawsuit. As per the private investigator, Gabehart drove to Spire Motorsports’ facility on the 2 of December, 2025. His accounts further claim that he was then accompanied by the team’s owner, Jeff Dickerson, and that they had lunch together. These claims were backed by pictures.

As of now, Chris Gabehart has continued to deny all the allegations. With the preliminary hearing set tomorrow, it could mark a huge turning point in the lawsuit. Moreover, this would be extremely important for Joe Gibbs, as Spire’s claims of his organization violating the contract seem extremely strong.