Chris Gabehart responds to Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit, denies theft allegations

Chris Gabehart “forcefully and emphatically” denies the claims made against him in a lawsuit filed Thursday by Joe Gibbs Racing.

Gibbs alleges that Gabehart stole the organization’s information and trade secrets with the intention of sharing them with Spire Motorsports after he decided to leave the company at the end of last season. Gabehart, who was the competition director at Joe Gibbs Racing, was denied a request for greater job authority and oversight of all racing decisions prior to his departure. He had been with the company since 2012.

The lawsuit claims that Gabehart synced his personal Google Drive with a Gibbs-issued laptop and was in possession of photographs containing confidential information and trade secrets, which were discovered through a forensic investigation of his devices.

“Yesterday afternoon, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a lawsuit claiming – falsely – that I shared JGR confidential information with Spire Motorsports and/or other unnamed third parties,” Gabehart wrote in a statement posted on social media. “I feel compelled to speak out today and forcefully and emphatically deny these frivolous and retaliatory claims. I look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate to the Court that I have not shared JGR’s confidential information with anyone. In fact, I have already demonstrated that to JGR.

“A third-party forensic expert retained by JGR recently examined my laptop, cell phone and personal Google Drive and found no evidence to support the baseless allegations in JGR’s lawsuit. We even offered JGR the opportunity to do a similar review of Spire’s systems. JGR refused that offer and filed this spiteful lawsuit instead.

“Stay tuned. We will have much more to say in the legal response we will be filing in the coming days.”

Gibbs is seeking $8 million in damages.