The lawsuit from Joe Gibbs Racing against Chris Gabehart has taken a new turn. On Tuesday evening, JGR made a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction against Gabehart and Spire Motorsports. Just the latest NASCAR legal action.
On top of that filing, multiple exhibits were entered, and Spire Motorsports is now listed as a Defendant in the newly amended complaint. This lawsuit is starting to take shape just as the season is in its third week of racing.
Joe Gibbs Racing wants to prevent Gabehart from joining Spire with the restraining order and injunction. They have also included a Notice of Termination and the Employment Agreement between Gabehart and JGR as exhibits.
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“As set forth in the Memorandum, JGR is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims,” the motion from JGR says in the third paragraph. “The evidence establishes that Gabehart and Spire have unlawfully acquired and used JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets – as defined in the Memorandum.
“Gabehart has actively competed with JGR after his employment with JGR and has joined JGR’s direct competitor, Spire, as its Chief Motorsports Officer. In that role, he will provide services to JGR’s competitor of the same type he provided JGR and use JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets to do so.”
The filing goes on to say that Gabehart has violated a noncompete and confidentiality clause that was included in his employment agreement. More importantly, JGR’s legal team points out that Gabehart and Spire could be violating the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, as well as multiple North Carolina acts. Of course, those claims will be for a judge or jury to decide.
Of course, the document places blame on Spire Motorsports as well. “Spire’s conduct in hiring Gabehart to perform services of the same kind he provided to JGR constitutes tortious interference with the noncompete Agreement between JGR and Gabehart.”
In short, JGR wants to prevent Gabehart from working as the Chief Motorsports Officer, or any role similar to his competition director job at Gibbs. JGR wants to keep him from working in that capacity for 18 months. That clock would retroactively begin at February 9, 2026, when Gabehart was officially terminated.
Of course, Joe Gibbs Racing is asking for all of its information and trade secrets back, and asking for a forensic review of Gabehart’s devices. This already feels messy, and I’m sure it won’t get much better as the lawsuit goes on.