After Monday’s hearing, it is clear that Joe Gibbs Racing could gain the upper hand over Chris Gabehart, not without a huge risk, though. The judge has extended the temporary restraining order against Gabehart until next week. Not only that, but she also granted some important requests to Gibbs’ camp. However, the lawsuit might not be limited to Gabehart and Spire, as some new players are being involved in the fiasco.

Joe Gibbs pushes requests towards third-party subpoenas

During the hearing, JGR’s attorney said she wanted to subpoena Justin Marks and Todd Meredith from Spire, Joe Custer, Rick Ware, and Tommy Baldwin. These people are all employees of Haas, Trackhouse, and Rick Ware Racing. JGR suspects that these are all using the trade secrets that Gabehart shared with Spire Motorsports.

According to a social media post by Jordan Bianchi, “Hearing has concluded for the day. The judge extends the TRO against Chris Gabehart to next week. She grants JGR’s request for expedited discovery and Gabehart’s request for reciprocal discovery.

“The judge denies JGR’s request to subpoena Spire’s communication with employees at Haas, Trackhouse and RWR regarding the supposed sharing of JGR trade secrets.”

The expedited discovery allows JGR to pursue the suspicions they have had against Gabehart by going through the communications and documents he has with him. However, they are not allowed to access anything that is out of his ownership.

But what matters more is the subpoena request that was denied. The official wording states that the denial was without prejudice. This means that it can be brought up again later on in the case. Just not right now during the expedited discovery period.

As explained by Shannon Hansen, “Denied without prejudice means that JGR can raise this request again in the future. For example, if somebody submits a declaration under oath identifying that these things are occurring or the documents obtained through the expedited discovery that has been granted indicate that these things may be occurring, the judge would revisit the issue.”

This subpoena is the most important weapon that JGR holds against Gabehart in this lawsuit. If Gibbs is allowed a subpoena, he will have free access to the communications made with the individuals mentioned in the request.

With that type of information, Gibbs can easily prove that Gabehart did use the trade secrets from JGR and win him the case in this matter.

For now, the expedited discovery is what the two will be focusing on the most. With enough proof, JGR will try to push the subpoena again to claim the upper hand and win his case. While Gabehart will try to prove his innocence and that he did not use the trade secrets or deliberately click the pictures he had uploaded to his drive.

As the court hearings move forward, the case seems to be falling more and more in favor of JGR. But if they push the subpoena too soon, then the entities involved have the right to reject it, provided it is issued during the expedited discovery period. And JGR would risk losing its biggest weapon in the battle.

So if Joe Gibbs does not have enough proof at hand to accuse the involved, maybe his camp should wait it out before trying to go for a subpoena.

While Joe Gibbs is clearly not happy with his former employee, there is someone else whom he considers the perfect example of a model employee.

Joe Gibbs backs up ‘loyal’ Chris Gayle

Joe Gibbs is more than appreciative of Chris Gayle. Denny Hamlin’s crew chief finally tasted success once again after the disastrous end to 2025 last year at Phoenix.

And that makes Joe Gibbs even happier that he is with the team right now.

“I think it’s just I think Chris Gayle is a great story. I mean, this guy is so loyal to us, and he’s been through quite a bit. He brought Ty along to a certain point, and now he’s with Denny, and I just really admire him.

“He’s mentally and physically tough, stays after it, and I think he’s really talented. So I think we got a great combination there. And so, I think that, as everybody here knows, you’re not going anywhere unless you’ve got a real talented crew chief.”

Those words are a clear jab directed towards Chris Gabehart. As of right now, it is being indicated that his loyalty did not lie with Joe Gibbs, and he was not interested in managing Ty Gibbs as a crew chief.