Joe Gibbs Racing sues former crew chief Gabehart, claiming theft of IP

Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a federal lawsuit against former competition director and crew chief Chris Gabehart, alleging a scheme to steal the organization’s information.

“Until November 10, 2025, Defendant served as one of JGR’s most senior leaders with respect to all competitive aspects of the business,” states the lawsuit, which was filed in the Western District of North Carolina. “After his demands for additional authority were rebuffed by JGR’s owner, Defendant immediately embarked on a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information and use it for the benefit of a direct competitor in NASCAR – Spire Motorsports. In this action, JGR seeks to recover its extensive damages and enjoin Defendant from violating his contractual obligations and wrongfully using JGR’s confidential information and trade secrets.”

Gabehart served as the Gibbs competition director in 2025 after coming off the pit box as a crew chief. He had previously guided Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 team for six seasons.

The lawsuit, which alleges $8 million in damages, lays out that Gabehart (pictured above, with Hamlin and Joe Gibbs) demanded a meeting with owner Joe Gibbs to voice his displeasure with his role, which grew throughout the season. The meeting took place on Nov. 6, 2025, and Gabehart is alleged to have requested more job authority and “carte blanche” over all racing decisions. Gibbs denied the request, and Gabehart informed him that he preferred to leave the company.

“Following the meeting, JGR understood that the parties would pursue an amicable separation,” the lawsuit states. “To that end, JGR began preparing a generous separation agreement for Defendant’s consideration. Defendant had other plans.”

Gibbs believed there was no reason to think Gabehart would harm the organization; however, the suit alleges that Gabehart’s counsel began changing their agreement, which included being able to solicit Gibbs employees. The results of a forensic investigation of Gabehart’s work-issued laptop “were shocking,” as they showed that he had synced his personal Google Drive with the laptop, conducted searches about Spire Motorsports in October and November, had a folder titled “Spire” and subfolder titled “past setups,” and was in possession of more than a dozen photos of his laptop screen taken Nov. 7, 2025. The photos were confidential Gibbs information and trade secrets.

“Defendant represented that the ‘Spire’ folder on his Google Drive ‘was used to store his own notes and personal records,’” explains the lawsuit. Gabehart was also alleged to have said that he had not retained documents about sensitive Gibbs financial data, but the lawsuit claims that is not true based on the photos taken.

“Upon information and belief,” the lawsuit goes on, “Defendant did not agree to the wholesale forensic review of his electronic devices because he knew such a review would demonstrate he had used and/or disclosed JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets for the benefit of third parties, including Spire.”

The Associated Press reported the split between Gabehart and Joe Gibbs Racing on Dec. 3. Spire Motorsports has never publicly announced Gabehart’s hiring.

Gibbs has requested a trial by jury.