October 25, 2025; Martinsville, Virginia, USA; Joe Gibbs Racing Director of Competition Chris Gabehart before the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 practice and qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Greg Atkins-Imagn Image Chris Gabehart will be restricted from his duties as Spire Motorsports’ chief motorsports officer after a judge issued a partial restraining order on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Susan C. Rodriguez of the Western District of North Carolina issued a ruling barring Gabehart from the competition director role he held at Joe Gibbs Racing.
JGR filed a motion asking the court to stop Gabehart’s employment with Spire.
But Monday’s order still allows Gabehart to work with Spire’s Truck Series, Late Model and Sprint Car teams and Andretti Autosport IndyCar, which, like Spire, is under the TWG Global umbrella.
JGR sued Gabehart last month, accusing him of sharing confidential information and trade secrets as he sought to leave his former job to work for rival Spire. The lawsuit, which seeks at least $8 million in damages, was later amended to include Spire as a defendant.
In a statement Monday, JGR wrote, “We are pleased with today’s ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina for a temporary restraining order enforcing the terms of our agreement with Chris Gabehart. We will continue the legal process to protect our information and fight for what is right for our race teams, employees and partners.”
Gabehart, 44, has been with JGR for 13 years, including as crew chief for Denny Hamlin and most recently as competition director. Last year, his base salary was reported to be $1 million before bonuses.
Motorsport.com reported that a JGR investigation found that Gabehart had set up a folder on his computer and shared it with his personal cloud storage listing team details, including salaries and performance reviews of drivers, crew chiefs and pit crew.
JGR claims it reviewed the file on the same day Gabehart had a meeting with Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson while finalizing his departure from the team.
JGR is owned by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs, 85, who won three Super Bowl titles as head coach of the Washington franchise. In NASCAR, his drivers have won five Cup Series championships and four Daytona 500 wins. Gibbs is also a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
–Field level media
