Joe Gibbs Racing adds Spire Motorsports as defendant in trade secrets lawsuit

NASCAR Cup Series team Spire Motorsports is now a defendant to a lawsuit filed last week by Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), alleging a former JGR Competition director Chris Gabehart “...embarked on a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information and use it for the benefit of a direct competitor in NASCAR—Spire."

In an amended complaint, JGR says Gabehart violated a noncompete agreement preventing him from taking any job with a competitor that would have him perform similar services.

“Despite the restrictive covenants in the Agreement and Gabehart’s misappropriation of trade secrets, Spire has hired Gabehart. Spire’s hiring of Gabehart and the competitive information he has used and improperly retained will give Spire a competitive advantage in the marketplace,” the lawsuit alleges.

JGR has made several claims against both Spire and Gabehart as well as individual claims against each party. Spire is specifically accused of tortious interference with contract."

“Spire knowingly, intentionally, unjustifiably, and in bad faith induced Gabehart to breach his contract with JGR by (1) soliciting and hiring him to work for Spire, and/or (2) requesting, encouraging, or otherwise inducing him to disclose or use Plaintiff’s trade secrets or confidential information,” the lawsuit reads.

Neither Gabehart nor Spire Motorsports have filed a response to the lawsuit in court as of Feb. 25, 2026. Following the initial filing of the lawsuit Gabehart took to X (formerly Twitter) denying the allegations against him, calling them “...frivolous and retaliatory claims.”

JGR is also asking a judge to issue an injunction against Spire and Gabehart in part asking for the judge to issue a cease and desist to prevent Gabehart from “...working or performing any services for Spire similar to those he provided to JGR for the 18 months following February 9, 2026.”

Channel 9 has reached out to Spire Motorsports for comment, at the time of publication no response has been received.

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