NASCAR made a lot of headlines in 2025 with a legal battle versus 23XI Racing, Michael Jordan and Front Row Motorsports that cost more than $300 million and resulted in a settlement that brought historic changes to the sport. One year later, “NASCOURT” is back with a legal fight between Joe Gibbs Racing, Spire Motorsports and Chris Gabehart.
The next hearing for the parties will be on August 26, as reported by Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports on Thursday night, with that hearing set to try and dismiss claims filed by Spire and Gabehart against Joe Gibbs Racing.
Gabehart, who previously served as the long-time crew chief of Denny Hamlin and later as the competition director for the entire company, alleges that JGR hasn’t paid him everything he is owed for his entire tenure with the team.
Meanwhile, ahead of the same hearing date, Spire has claimed that JGR “never reciprocated what it promised” when Spire allowed car chief Cheddar Smith to join Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 team.
Background on Legal Battle Between Joe Gibbs Racing, Spire Motorsports and Chris Gabehart
All of this started during the offseason. Gabehart left Joe Gibbs Racing in December 2025 and it was announced in February that he was hired by Spire Motorsports. Around that same time, JGR sued its former competition director with allegations that he was part of a ‘brazen scheme’ to hurt the team.
JGR claimed that, after the two sides agreed to part ways in November, confiscating Gabehart’s computer, a forensic analysis conducted by the team found that Gabehart had access to confidential information regarding the team’s cars and he used his personal cellphone to document the proprietary information and bring it with him to Spire.
Despite JGR’s objections, a ruling by a federal judge in March allowed for Gabehart to continue working at Spire as long as his duties didn’t overlap with the tasks he fulfilled as competition director at JGR.
In July, JGR withdrew claims that an employee at Spire had provided a JGR staffer with intel that Gabehart is “in charge of and/or significantly participating in Spire’s competition strategy and decisions.” In a statement, JGR stated that it doesn’t “possess nonprivileged information sufficient” to back those claims.
In the months since the legal battle began, Hamlin has taken shots at his former crew chief on the podcast Actions Detrimental and it’s been evident that there remains real hostility between the two sides. However, as with the legal battle between NASCAR and both 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, this saga will likely end in a settlement during the offseason.
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