The legal fight between Joe Gibbs Racing and Spire Motorsports over Chris Gabehart is escalating again, and the latest round has become strikingly personal.
Joe Gibbs Racing is asking the court to hold Gabehart and Spire in contempt, arguing that Gabehart has violated restrictions imposed by the court following his departure from JGR.
Now, Gabehart and Spire are pushing back hard.
In filings submitted Tuesday night, they argue that discovery has failed to substantiate JGR’s allegations that Gabehart is performing the same type of Cup Series competition work at Spire that he previously handled at Joe Gibbs Racing.
Spire went even further in describing what it believes is driving the continued legal battle.
“Despite extensive (unrebutted) testimony from every Spire witness demonstrating that Gabehart is not providing the same services to Spire that he provided to JGR, JGR maintains that Gabehart is somehow in violation of the Court’s Orders,” Spire argued in its filing.
“That position flows from a flawed interpretation of the Court’s Orders and the palpable hatred JGR’s leadership has for Gabehart.”
The two sides are scheduled to return to court Thursday morning for a hearing on JGR’s contempt motion.
Spire Says Chris Gabehart Has Been Kept Away From Cup Decisions
At the center of the latest dispute is what Gabehart has actually been doing since joining Spire as its Chief Motorsports Officer.
According to the filing, Spire maintains that Gabehart’s current executive position is fundamentally different from the competition-focused jobs he held at JGR, where he previously served as a Cup Series crew chief and competition director.
Spire cited deposition testimony from several members of its organization to support that argument.
Competition director Matt McCall testified that Gabehart has not been involved in helping him and is “not contributing in the meetings,” according to excerpts included in the filing.
Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson testified that Gabehart contributed “zero” to anything at Daytona and “zero” to Spire’s two Cup wins in 2026.
No. 77 crew chief Luke Lambert was similarly emphatic when asked whether Gabehart was responsible for Spire winning.
“100 percent untrue … I know he’s had no impact,” Lambert testified, according to the filing.
The filing says Gabehart attended only roughly five to 12 of approximately 260 Cup-related meetings this season. Spire also cited testimony from its other Cup crew chiefs and executives saying Gabehart has not provided meaningful input into Cup competition decisions.
Dickerson testified that the organization has deliberately gone beyond what it believes the court requires to avoid creating even the appearance of a violation.
“I do not put Chris in that meeting because we are not going to fly too close to the sun here, regardless of what he is or isn’t, right?” Dickerson said in his deposition.
He later explained why.
“Because I’m not going to put him in any situation or — even past that, I’m not going to put myself in a situation where I’m going to lose this case.”
Spire Accuses JGR of Trying to ‘Crush Gabehart’
The language gets considerably sharper from there.
Spire argues that extensive discovery has not produced evidence that Gabehart transmitted JGR’s files to Spire or used JGR’s proprietary information in Spire’s Cup operation.
“Most importantly, there is no evidence Gabehart transmitted the files JGR claims he took to Spire,” Spire said in its filing.
The organization argued that if such activity had occurred, there should be emails, text messages, file-sharing records or other evidence showing Gabehart bringing JGR information into Spire.
“There is no such evidence, because that did not happen,” the filing states.
Those are Spire’s assertions in response to JGR’s allegations. The court has not yet ruled on the contempt motion.
Spire also contends that Gabehart’s Chief Motorsports Officer position encompasses far more than the NASCAR Cup Series, including Spire and TWG Motorsports’ involvement in the Truck Series, sprint cars, late models, dirt late models, IndyCar, driver development, manufacturing and other business operations.
Spire says that distinction matters because the court’s previous orders did not require Gabehart to leave the organization altogether.
The filing ultimately characterizes JGR’s position in considerably more pointed terms, alleging its objective is to “crush Gabehart” and “put him out of a job.”
That accusation is now part of an already contentious dispute headed back before the court.
Thursday morning’s hearing represents the next major step. JGR will have an opportunity to pursue its argument that Gabehart and Spire violated the court’s restrictions, while Gabehart and Spire will attempt to show that his work has remained within the boundaries established by the court.
For now, one thing is clear: a dispute that began over Gabehart’s move from one NASCAR organization to another has developed into one of the sport’s most closely watched off-track battles.
Spire Fires Back at Joe Gibbs Racing With Explosive Claim in Chris Gabehart Case