Judge delays decision on restraining order preventing Chris Gabehart from joining Spire Motorsports

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge did not issue a ruling Friday on whether to impose a temporary restraining order that would prevent former Joe Gibbs Racing competition director Chris Gabehart from working for rival NASCAR team Spire Motorsports. Susan C Rodriguez, a U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, said attorneys who represent JGR, Gabehart and Spire have until Sunday night to potentially come up with a resolution that works for all sides. If they cannot, she said she will make her ruling in court on Monday. In the meantime, Gabehart will be allowed to work for Spire this weekend. JGR, founded and co-owned by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs, had asked for a restraining order earlier this week to prevent Gabehart from working for Spire Motorsports after Spire revealed he had been hired by the upstart team as its chief motorsports officer. JGR is suing Gabehart for allegedly embarking on "a brazen scheme to steal JGR's most sensitive information," according to court documents. The team alleges Gabehart took proprietary information with the intention of bringing to it to Spire, which has also been named as a defendant in the case. The JGR lawsuit contends in court documents that a forensic audit concluded that the organization found Google searches about Spire Motorsports, folders titled "Spire" and "Past Setups" and more than a dozen images of JGR files containing confidential information and trade secrets. JGR is arguing that Gabehart is in violation of his non-compete clause and should not be allowed to work for another NASCAR team for 18 months because of his vast knowledge of JGR's racecar setups and other vital information. "He had the keys to the kingdom," JGR attorney Sarah Hutchins said Friday in court. JGR claims Gabehart has caused more than $8 million in damages to the organization. Gabehart's attorney Cary Davis argued that Gabehart's role with Spire is completely different than his job at JGR. His role was compared to that of a football GM/head coach role with Spire, as opposed to an offensive coordinator with JGR. Gabehart has a different view of the events than JGR. He acknowledges taking the photos on his phone and creating the "Spire" folder, but said the folder was for his own evaluation of whether or not to join that race team. Gabehart alleges he paid for his own forensic audit and it showed "there is no evidence I transmitted, distributed, used or otherwise shared any JGR confidential information. No text messages. No email attachments. No dissemination whatsoever. He added the JGR lawsuit "is not about protecting trade secrets, it is about punishing a former employee for daring to leave." Gabehart's contentious relationship with JGR boiled over last November and he was officially terminated on Feb. 9. He claims his 13-year tenure at JGR began to unravel upon being pressured last season to serve as crew chief for Ty Gibbs, the grandson of the team owner, despite having been promoted to competition director at the end of 2024. In court documents he alleges that JGR is suing him for "daring to leave" the NASCAR team after the situation surrounding Gibbs' grandson became untenable at the organization. Spire Motorsports co-owner Dan Towriss said Friday from the IndyCar race in Florida that Spire does not have any JGR data, Gabehart never offered any, and that JGR is angry that Gabehart left "for someone other than a blue blood team." Spire started its Cup team in 2019 and has just one victory to date. It has since grown into a three-car organization and Towriss and TWG Motorsports are now the majority owner. The team is run day-to-day by co-owner Jeff Dickerson and fields Chevrolets for Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez. "I feel very good about how Spire has conducted things, Spire doesn't want data from Joe Gibbs Racing. It doesn't have data from Joe Gibbs Racing. At no point in time has it had data from Joe Gibbs Racing," said Towriss, who added Gabehart would not have criticized Ty Gibbs publicly if JGR had not sued. "I'm sure Chris didn't want to have to share some of those details," Towriss said. "But when they claim that Spire tortuously interfered, you know, in his contract, he has to say ... these are the reasons why I left. He's not there to just sling mud around." In a court filing earlier Friday, an email from Gabehart to Tim Carmichael, Gibbs' CFO, outlined issues Gabehart had with Gibbs' grandson and daughter-in-law, Heather, who is co-owner of the team. Joe Gibbs and Heather Gibbs attended the court hearing on Friday. "I am not certain that the resentment that Heather and Ty now clearly show towards me will ever be repaired," Gabehart wrote. "And with them being the future leaders of this company, I'm afraid that leaves me in a no-win situation." Gibbs founded JGR in 1992, and he is now co-owner along with Heather Gibbs, Ty's mother. Gabehart joined JGR as an engineer in 2012, worked his way to crew chief for Denny Hamlin, and became competition director prior to the 2025 season. He spent spent six seasons as Hamlin's crew chief and the duo won 22 Cup races including two Daytona 500s.