Joe Gibbs Racing accuses Chris Gabehart of violating restraining order at Bristol

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Chris Gabehart attended the NASCAR event over the weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway and Joe Gibbs Racing is adamant that he violated a temporary restraining order in the process.

Gabehart is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Joe Gibbs Racing in which the latter has alleged the former violated the non-compete provisions of their previous work agreement. JGR also says Gabehart participated in a ‘brazen scheme’ to steal trade secrets while negotiating the job he ultimately took with Spire Motorsports.

Joe Gibbs Racing sued Gabehart for over $8 million and then added Spire as a defendant shortly afterwards.

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As part of the legal proceedings over the past two months, Judge Susan C. Rodriguez issued a restraining order that allows Gabehart to continue working for Spire but not provide services to that organization similar to the ones he most recently performed as JGR competition director in 2025.

This was a temporary measure that allowed Gabehart to continue making a living while also allowing the court to work towards a trial or settlement.

Gabehart has continued to attend NASCAR Cup Series races since the ‘TRO’ was issued and has been photographed several times by JGR as that team continues to make a case that the court is being ignored.

This time, Joe Gibbs Racing issued a pair of declarations by Ty Gibbs social media manager David Biro and competition director Wally Brown. Biro submitted photographs of Gabehart in the infield during Cup Series track sessions at Bristol wearing a radio headset (without a microphone) but also standing in a pit road workstation and standing near Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar.

The court order basically only allows Gabehart to participate in senior executive level activities with Spire and only in a competition role for non-Cup or O’Reilly Series divisions that Spire is involved in.

Brown accused Gabehart of doing competition director level activities on Saturday and Sunday for Spire at Bristol. The words from Brown’s filings are included below in italics.

“Executives who do not have input into competition typically are not actively engaged in Practice or Qualifying sessions. Sponsors typically do not attend Practice and Qualifying, particularly at this race.”

He then detailed why each photograph included in the filing was, in his opinion, a violation of the court’s TRO.

"In this photograph taken during Practice for the Cup Series, Gabehart appears to be wearing two radios with earpieces-in my experience the kind issued by NASCAR race teams to their competition personnel. Gabehart's use of these radios during this time strongly suggests that he is listening to the radios to obtain competition-related information."

“In my experience, access to the workstation is typically limited to competition personnel with direct input into a Cup team's on-track performance. In the photograph, Gabehart, standing with his back to the camera and wearing a black shirt and jeans, is apparently monitoring data screens. This position in close proximity is consistent with someone providing input into competition decisions. His presence at this location during Practice, as well as his specific location within the workstation, suggests to me Gabehart was likely actively participating in Spire's competition operations for the NASCAR Cup race.”

"This photograph was taken at the end of Qualifying and shows Gabehart in close proximity to someone who appears to be Carson Hocevar, the driver of Spire's Number 77 Cup Series car. In the photograph, Gabehart appears to be standing and looking at a screen. Hocevar- the Spire driver- appears to be seated in the workstation wearing glasses. In my experience, direct communication between competition leadership and drivers at the end of Qualifying typically involves discussing the driver's performance during Qualifying, and the car's handling. This type of apparent interaction -- occurring immediately after Qualifying-suggests to me Gabehart was likely actively participating in Spire's competition operations, providing the kind of input and feedback that a Competition Director provides to the team after Qualifying."

All told, Joe Gibbs Racing in its overall legal filing that included the declarations, says the court needs to address this because of the potential that Gabehart could be using procured trade secrets on behalf of Spire right now.

“This evidence is also pertinent to the threat of ongoing misappropriation addressed in JGR’s Reply, ECF No. 46 at 9–13, as Gabehart’s active participation in Spire’s race-day competition operations creates circumstances in which JGR’s trade secrets may be disclosed or misused.

“Finally, the evidence is pertinent to JGR’s argument that Gabehart’s demonstrated lack of credibility necessitates monitoring his conduct to ensure compliance with the Court’s order.”

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