The ongoing legal battle between NASCAR teams Joe Gibbs Racing and Spire Motorsports took another turn in the courtroom on Thursday. In a shocking claim, JGR alleges that Chris Gabehart, chief motorsports officer at Spire, had access to information through June of this year.
Gabehart was formerly a crew chief for Cup star Denny Hamlin at Joe Gibbs Racing and later transitioned into a director of competition role. Prior to the 2026 season, Gabehart left JGR and joined Spire as a chief motorsports officer.
In the wake of the move, JGR sued Gabehart and Spire, alleging that their former employee had stolen confidential information from their organization in an effort to improve Spire.
Latest Development in Joe Gibbs, Spire Lawsuit
FOX motorsports reporter Bob Pockrass was on top of the NASCAR courtroom coverage on Thursday. Pockrass reported that one revelation from the day was that Gabehart had access to JGR information through June 2026 on a “different device.”
“One thing revealed is that JGR alleges that Gabehart continued to have access through June to some JGR info on a different device that had not been scrubbed,” Pockrass wrote via X.
Court wrapped up for the Day’ without a decision regarding Gabehart’s different device but Pockrass said a decision will come Monday, with a motion covering metadata to determine if Gabehart accessed any JGR information.
“Court done for the day. Decisions will come Monday. One of the motions covers metadata that could tell when Gabehart accessed any of the JGR info he had in his possession. One focused on getting final list of trade secrets alleged in the case,” Pockrass wrote.
Denny Hamlin Questions Gabehart After Latest Court Twist
Hamlin, longtime driver of the No. 11 for JGR, responded to one of Pockrass’ X posts questioning the recent development in his team’s ongoing lawsuit. He asked:
“Bob, I thought he gave all of the information he had on his devices back last winter. Is that not the case?”
While Pockrass said he did not have all the information on the matter, he noted a specific device was not mentioned and there was no note on when it was last accessed.
“We didn’t get all the info today but it wasn’t specified what device it was (people could have multiple/previous devices that would continue to sync) and when info was last accessed,” Pockrass wrote.
Hamlin later followed up asking a separate question to an X user, writing:
“How do Judges typically view “oops I forgot” situations?”
Perhaps Hamlin would know a thing or two about how the courtroom works as his 23XI Racing team was at the center of attention of a North Carolina court last December. Hamlin’s team, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan, along with Front Row Motorsports sued NASCAR in the fall of 2024 over a charter dispute.
The teams accused NASCAR of monopolistic practices. After a few days of trial, the case was ultimately settled.