Joe Gibbs Racing has been stubborn in its argument against Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports, claiming that they’ve violated the court’s restraining order. U.S. District Judge Susan C. Rodriguez allowed Gabehart to work with Spire but barred him from performing duties that overlapped with his role at JGR. Despite Spire’s repeated pushback against JGR’s claims, the team has now opted for a safer approach.

Gabehart is now on administrative leave at Spire Motorsports, and Joe Gibbs Racing is doubling down on its claim that Spire and Gabehart violated the restraining order. JGR filed a fresh claim stating that this move by Spire is nothing but “damage control.”

“Defendants’ claims of good faith compliance with the Court’s Orders also fall short. Contrary to Defendants’ assertion, Spire’s repeated decisions to curtail Gabehart’s access to its systems and his involvement in the Cup Series were not the result of proactive compliance, they were damage control.

“Spire’s hollow claim that it acted because of JGR’s ‘litigious nature’ only confirms that Spire recognized that Gabehart’s behavior could be seen as a violation of the Court’s Orders. … Spire stripped Gabehart of his company email, his laptop, and his access to its systems because it evidently could not trust him with them, yet it kept paying its highest paid ‘executive’ millions of dollars,” JGR stated in the motion, which was shared by Matt Weaver.

During the October 1 hearing, the team alleged that Gabehart retained access to JGR files through a personal OneDrive account until late June 2026, months after he left the organization. With its latest motion, JGR is arguing that Gabehart had access to proprietary information while working with a direct competitor.

So far, JGR hasn’t proved that Spire Motorsports benefited from the alleged trade secrets Gabehart stole from his former employer. Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson publicly took shots at his rival while speaking on the Door Bumper Clear podcast.

“It would just be nice to see some evidence. That’s all. It would just be nice. It feels like we’re just taking a lot of shots or a lot of bullets are coming our way. I just don’t know how we’re supposed to prove negatives and I don’t know how we’re supposed to just sit here and take it also. It’s tough to sit in court and you hear that you’re all these things.”

There’s a reason why JGR is bullish on its arguments that the restraining order was violated. Carson Hocevar texted Gabehart seeking feedback on his No. 77 Chevy. Also, Spire Motorsports had Gabehart attend five to twelve Cup Series competition meetings and did not remove him from this role until early June.

In response, Spire has argued that discussing topics such as tire pressures does not constitute the sharing of trade secrets. It has also argued that Gabehart’s attendance at Cup races and meetings is no different from that of another executive, such as Jeff Gordon, accompanying his team. Things have gotten pretty ugly between the two parties, and the latest text message revelations have put JGR in a tough spot.

A chain of messages between Heather Gibbs, co-owner of JGR, and Wally Brown was presented in court. The conversation took place in August 2025, when Gabehart was asked to call races for Ty Gibbs despite being a competition director.

“Oh my gosh what a total nightmare. I have never seen someone have keys to world with a red carpet completely self implode. We have created a monster. He absolutely can’t lead even if we tried to coach him up. We need to protect our employees.” This was Heather’s reply when asked about the Gabehart situation. She continued her criticism with some harsh words aimed at Gabehart: “So manipulative and cancerous which is what we already have enough of.”

It is worth noting that both JGR and Spire are in the discovery phase, and they are scheduled for trial on February 1, 2027.