Spire Responds to Joe Gibbs Racing in Latest Lawsuit Twist

Spire Motorsports and Chris Gabehart have responded to a motion by Joe Gibbs Racing to hold the two parties in contempt of court. It is one of the latest developments in the ongoing lawsuit between JGR against Spire and Gabehart.

The parties will meet in court on Thursday morning, with Spire and Gabehart set to explain why they should not be held in contempt of court, per Matt Weaver of Motorsport.com .

Latest Twist in The Spire, JGR NASCAR Lawsuit

When JGR first brought the case to court, the organization claimed Gabehart had stolen confidential information from the team and took it to Spire Motorsports after leaving the former at the end of the 2025 season.

JGR, which referred to the information as the "crown jewels" of the team, has filed a claim of contempt of court, accusing Gabehart of violating work restrictions at Spire Motorsports since his departure from JGR.

In a response from the Gabehart camp, the former crew chief and director of competition at JGR claims he has not gone against the court's orders.

"Every one of these witnesses, under oath, confirmed that Mr. Gabehart is not providing services of the type he provided to JGR. He has not: served as a crew chief; acted as a competition director; shared JGR's aerodynamic information; shared setup documents; communicated with GM Motorsports or Hendrick Motorsports about Cup Series; used any database for Cup purposes; been involved in any simulation, pre-event strategy, build sheets, QC materials, scans, fuel analysis, debrief forms, or project lists for Cup Series."

Gabehart currently works at Spire Motorsports as the team's chief motorsports officer. In Gabehart's short time with the organization, his legal team claims JGR's accusations of any wrongdoing are baseless.

"JGR originally sought extraordinary relief on the theory that Gabehart had taken and distributed JGR's race-car setups to Spire. It called those setups its 'crown jewels.' But extensive discovery—including more than 80 third-party subpoenas, hundreds of search terms, and searches across dozens of custodians—has not supported that theory. Spire never hired Gabehart as Competition Director or Crew Chief and never acquired JGR's trade secrets."

Chris Gabehart is a former crew chief at JGR, once atop the pit box for Denny Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota. Last year, Gabehart hung up his crew chief duties and became a director of competition for the organization.

Ahead of the 2026 season, Gabehart left JGR and joined Spire Motorsports as a chief motorsports officer. In that time period between teams, JGR claimed that Gabehart stole important information.

JGR's claim is that Gabehart stole the "crown jewels" of the team to help improve Spire Motorsports' performance.

In 2026, JGR has all four of its full-time Cup Series cars in the Chase, while Spire has two full-time drivers in the Chase — the first time the team has made the 16-driver cut in history.