A legal battle is brewing in the NASCAR garage, and it involves one of the sport’s most respected teams. Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a lawsuit against its former competition director, Chris Gabehart, accusing him of stealing confidential team information for a rival organization.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in North Carolina. In it, Joe Gibbs Racing claims Gabehart carried out what it calls a brazen scheme to take some of the team’s most sensitive information to Spire Motorsports. The team says his actions caused more than 8 million dollars in damages.

Joe Gibbs Racing, often called JGR, was founded in 1992 by Joe Gibbs after he won three Super Bowls as head coach of Washington’s NFL team. Gibbs is a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Today, he co-owns the team with his daughter in law, Heather Gibbs. JGR currently fields Cup Series cars for Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, and Denny Hamlin.

Gabehart joined JGR in 2012 as an engineer. Over time, he worked his way up to become Hamlin’s crew chief and later the team’s competition director before the 2025 season. In that role, he oversaw all competitive aspects of the race team. That meant he had access to detailed setup notes, engineering data, and other trade secrets that teams guard closely.

According to the lawsuit, problems began last season when Gabehart asked for full control over all competition departments. In a meeting on November 6, 2025, he reportedly asked for complete authority over all racing decisions. Gibbs denied the request. Soon after, Gabehart said he wanted to leave the organization.

While negotiating his departure, JGR claims it discovered that Gabehart had been meeting with Spire Motorsports. That discovery led the team to conduct a forensic review of his work laptop. The lawsuit says the results were shocking. Investigators allegedly found online searches about Spire, folders labeled “Spire” and “Past Setups,” and more than a dozen images of files containing confidential information.

JGR also claims Gabehart tried to hide his digital activity. The team says he knew accessing and keeping those materials was against his contract. Gabehart turned in his laptop on November 10 and has not worked for JGR since that time.

The lawsuit further claims Gabehart received a job offer from Spire on November 13 and later met with Spire co owner Jeff Dickerson in early December. JGR alleges that on December 4, Gabehart told the team he had not spoken with Spire about employment. The team now says that statement was false.

Adding to the tension, JGR claims Gabehart attempted to recruit at least one JGR employee to join him at Spire. At least one employee has reportedly made the move.

JGR says it recently learned that Gabehart plans to become chief motorsports officer at Spire Motorsports. In that role, he would oversee racing strategy and operations, which is similar to the responsibilities he had at JGR. The team argues this contradicts earlier statements that his new job would not involve similar services.

At this point, Spire Motorsports has not officially announced Gabehart’s hiring. His attorney has declined to comment. Gabehart has 21 days to respond to the lawsuit.

This case highlights how competitive and secretive NASCAR has become. Teams invest millions of dollars in research, data, and development. Even small pieces of information can make a difference on race day. As this legal fight unfolds, it could have a lasting impact on how teams protect their information and handle staff departures in the future.