Here’s What Happened in the JGR vs. Chris Gabehart/Spire Lawsuit This Week (March 21-March 27)

The next phase of Joe Gibbs Racing’s lawsuit versus its ex-competition director, Chris Gabehart, and Spire Motorsports unraveled this week between JGR making supplemental filings on Wednesday (March 25) and a preliminary injunction hearing on Thursday (March 26).

The hearing occurred at the Western District of North Carolina after the initial hearing on March 16 was agreed upon by both parties to focus on JGR’s motion for expedited discovery, as well as Gabehart’s and Spire’s motions for reciprocal discovery.

In that hearing, JGR was granted limited expedited discovery on communications between Gabehart and Spire, while Gabehart was granted reciprocal discovery on JGR’s internal communications regarding his non-compete terms and compensation through the separation. Spire’s request for reciprocal discovery was denied.

JGR is alleging that Gabehart and Spire convened to steal and transfer confidential information and trade secrets from the organization in an effort to attain quicker success at the NASCAR Cup Series level.

As a result, JGR is seeking relief by requesting that the court prohibit Gabehart from performing any duties at Spire similar to his former role at JGR for 18 months.

Here’s everything you may have missed from this week’s events.

Read all of Frontstretch’s content covering the JGR vs. Gabehart/Spire lawsuit here

On Wednesday, JGR filed a second supplemental brief in support of its motion for preliminary injunction, while both Gabehart and Spire filed supplemental briefings in opposition to JGR’s allegations.
In its filing, JGR accused Gabehart of not only taking its confidential information and trade secrets, but that he “immediately operationalized them for Spire’s benefit, creating a detailed “Focus Plan” referencing the very categories of misappropriated materials, replicating JGR’s proprietary analytics tools for Spire’s use, and apparently actively participating in Spire’s NASCAR race-day operations while still subject to his restrictive covenant,” the filing stated.
JGR also alleged that Gabehart deleted several texts with Spire’s co-owner Jeff Dickerson, claiming that the deleted texts deprived JGR of “critical evidence.”
Furthermore, JGR alleged that Gabehart deleted the texts on Nov. 15, a week after his alleged misappropriation of confidential information, and the same day that he accessed a Google Drive labeled “Spire.” The team also claims Gabehart has been unable to explain why he deleted the texts.
JGR alleged that discovered texts showed that Gabehart and Dickerson were discussing a potential lawsuit, claiming that Gabehart either figured his actions would be discovered or that he would not be caught. One alleged text was that Dickerson told Gabehart, “it’s on” in preparation for a lawsuit.
The team also contested that Gabehart knew how it would respond to theft of confidential information based on a similar incident regarding trade secrets in 2024 in which Gabehart helped JGR investigate.
Due to limited discovery on Gabehart alone, as well as the alleged deleted texts, JGR argued it was “deprived of critical evidence” in investigating whether Gabehart and Spire traded confidential information, as well as the scope of how much was potentially transferred.
Additionally, JGR accused Spire of knowing Gabehart had taken confidential information with him and that it encouraged him to do so.
Through the aforementioned “Focus Plan” created by Gabehart, JGR alleged that the results of its discovery showed that Gabehart made “a roadmap for leveraging JGR’s confidential information.” JGR believed the document contained information regarding its setups, driver debriefs, race audits and performance analytics.
JGR said Gabehart proceeded to create a spreadsheet resembling its “race-performance analytics tool,” and that Spire put it to use in the season-opening Daytona 500.
On this point, JGR stated that it “finds itself in the position of a coach, one of whose players has left, playbook in hand, to join the opposing team before the big game.”
An additional belief that Gabehart and Spire coordinated over JGR’s trade secrets is that Gabehart continued to access the “Spire” folder on his Google Drive after departing JGR. It also alleged that Gabehart attended meetings with Spire before his supposed start date and before JGR had terminated him.
JGR also argued that one day after Eric Schaffer, JGR’s chief commercial officer, called Spire’s president, Bill Anthony, Gabehart searched “indemnify,” which is when one compensates another for loss from damages or harm. Furthermore, JGR contested that a text chain between Dickerson and Gabehart affirmed that Spire would provide financial support to Gabehart in the case of litigation.
JGR also addressed Gabehart and Spire’s claims that Gabehart’s role at Spire is different from his position at Spire, which it claims violates the restrictive covenants Gabehart agreed to at JGR.
JGR alleged that Gabehart’s contract at Spire is not “fundamentally different” from his contract at JGR, stating “[Spire] is paying a premium to win NASCAR races using the exact competitive knowledge the restrictive covenant was designed to protect.”
In its request for injunctive relief, JGR reiterated that it is not seeking to prohibit Gabehart from employment, but rather to prohibit him from working in a role that “implicates the very information protected by his restrictive covenant and confidentiality obligations” for 18 months.
Following its expedited discovery, JGR also accused Gabehart and Spire of falsely claiming that Gabehart’s role at Spire did not have any direct correlation to his role at JGR.
In arguing this claim, JGR stated “Gabehart’s own conduct further confirms that his role at Spire was designed to encompass and oversee precisely the same competitive strategy and decision-making in NASCAR that he focused on at JGR.”
JGR also contested Gabehart and Spire’s claim that he never invoked a term of his employment agreement that would have reduced his non-compete period.
In its argument, JGR stated that while Gabehart informed the team he did not believe his role was what he was led to believe, he only offered complaints and criticisms of JGR and no evidence of how the job was different from expectations, nor that he was terminated without cause.

In his supplemental brief, Gabehart based it on the argument that, following reciprocal discovery that he was granted, JGR is going off speculation rather than proof.

At the beginning of his filing, Gabehart stated “JGR has failed to identify a single instance in which Mr. Gabehart transmitted, disclosed, or used any JGR Confidential Information.”

Gabehart also contested that JGR violated his employment agreement by withholding compensation and terminating him despite “finding no evidence of wrongful sharing or disclosure.”

Gabehart stated that in order for JGR to obtain injunctive relief, it must go down a “Waterfall” that shows it is likely to prevail in the trial.

In his argument, Gabehart stated that JGR had “unclean hands” by not paying him following Nov. 10, despite not terminating his contract until Feb. 9. Gabehart also alleged that the team withheld performance bonuses until after his counsel “intervened.”

Because of this alleged breach, Gabehart maintained that JGR “forfeited any right to enforce a noncompete when it breached first.”

Secondly, Gabehart argued that following his expedited discovery, he had further evidence that his contract was terminated “without cause.”

Gabehart maintained he invoked his right to termination under the employment agreement terms, nullifying his 18-month non-compete period and reducing it to one week, which expired in November 2025.

Additionally, Gabehart claimed JGR’s internal termination notice did not claim any misconduct or termination reason “for cause.”

Ultimately, Gabehart alleged that by not paying him through Feb. 9, or terminating him “without cause,” JGR had no valid basis for an 18-month non-compete period.

Gabehart also argued that if his non-compete was enforceable, he is not in violation of it because “JGR cannot clearly show Mr. Gabehart is violating it because he is not ‘provid[ing] services of the general type of services’” he provided in his final year at JGR,” maintaining his role at Spire extends across many forms of racing.

In the latter part of his filing, Gabehart reiterated that JGR has been unable to provide evidence he shared, disclosed, or used any of its confidential information, and that he has complied with the team’s forensic examination.

Furthermore, Gabehart asserted that JGR was using its protection of trade secrets as a means to intimidate and retain employees rather than use it to protect its relationships.

Lastly, Gabehart defended his deletion of the texts between him and Dickerson, arguing that there was no knowledge of potential litigation, nor did he have a reason to preserve the texts at that time. Gabehart also argued that “no non-compete was in play,” there had not been a “for cause” termination, and that no confidential information had been shared or disclosed.

In its filings, Spire also contested that JGR had no evidence that it had convened with Gabehart to share or disclose JGR’s confidential information, nor that it had encouraged Gabehart to misappropriate any of JGR’s trade secrets.

Instead, Spire claimed it had gone to greater lengths to avoid coming across any confidential information by “instructing Gabehart not to disclose the information, entering into an agreement with Gabehart prohibiting such disclosure, and offering to enter into an agreement with JGR concerning the same.”

Spire also stated that it cut off Gabehart’s Spire email, revoked his access to Spire systems on March 18 and quarantined his Spire laptop.

In response to JGR’s tortious interference claim, Spire stated JGR would not succeed pertaining to these claims because there is no evidence that it acted “without justification when it hired Gabehart, that JGR breached Gabehart’s agreement by withholding payment, JGR’s restrictive covenant is unenforceable and that Gabehart’s role at Spire does not mirror his previous role at JGR.

Spire further alleged that JGR had terminated Gabehart “without cause.”

On Thursday, Judge Susan C. Rodriguez heard both parties’ arguments during the preliminary injunction hearing.

According to Motorsports‘s Matt Weaver, much of the argument centered around the parties’ filings on Wednesday, though disagreement arose surrounding the exact date Gabehart departed JGR.

JGR’s attorney, Tom Melsheimer, argued that the team had 60 days to resolve Gabehart’s grievances with his role and that Gabehart was misappropriating confidential information during his non-compete period.

Spire, on the other hand, believes Nov. 11 was Gabehart’s final date of employment, arguing that JGR can’t terminate Gabehart twice and that it needs to provide reliable evidence that he had an 18-month non-compete clause.

Additionally, JGR continued to argue that Gabehart misappropriated its trade secrets and that Spire convened with him to do so, though it admitted it has no evidence at this time. The team stood on the grounds that Spire used the information with the goal of becoming instant contenders in the Cup Series.

The issue of Gabehart creating a spreadsheet for Spire was also a focal point, with Judge Rodriguez expressing concern for why he created a similar spreadsheet to that of Spire, according to Weaver.

Cary B. Davis, Gabehart’s attorney, argued that it was more so because Gabehart had created both spreadsheets at JGR and Spire, reflecting his style.

Spire’s attorney, Joshua Davey, admitted that Gabehart’s photos and notes from JGR were under his Google Drive, saying, “He screwed up. He did,” but maintained that it wasn’t because Spire desired them.

Ultimately, Judge Rodriguez delayed ruling on the preliminary injunction, citing that she needed more time to examine certain aspects of the case before ordering a ruling.

Judge Rodriguez also extended the temporary restraining order on Gabehart through April 9, which prohibits Gabehart from providing similar services to Spire that he did with JGR.