Spire’s Success Fuels JGR Legal Fight

Spire’s Success Fuels JGR Legal FightJames Gilbert - Getty Images

Spire Motorsports’ success in the NASCAR Cup Series first 11 races this season has resulted in Joe Gibbs Racing asking a federal judge to allow it to amend its complaint in the lawsuit against JGR’s former competition director Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports that’s scheduled for trial in January 2027.

Items submitted to support JGR’s request include a transcript from a recent FOX Sports race telecast where an announcer said:

“I’m just going to address the elephant in the room—there’s a reason there’s a lawsuit going on. Kevin, you’re going to tell me the Toyotas are fast all day long. They hired—everything is about people in this world, and they’ve hired a good one with Chris Gabehart over at Spire Motorsports, and I think that’s a big reason why they’re running good.”

This year’s Spire Motorsports’ three Cup drivers—Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, and Michael McDowell—have combined for one victory, five top-five, and 10 top-10 finishes and one pole. Hocevar, who acquired his first Cup victory at Talladega, is sixth in the driver standings, while Suarez is 14th and McDowell is 23rd. Last year, Spire’s drivers—Justin Haley, Hocevar, and McDowell—produced no victories, six top-five, and 17 top-10 finishes and one pole. None of the drivers finished in the top 20 in the point standings. Of the three, McDowell was the highest in the driver standings at 22nd.

In the proposed second amended complaint to US District Judge Susan C. Rodriguez, JGR contends that Spire knowingly hired Gabehart to perform the same services that he performed for JGR in 2025, which violated his non-compete agreement with JGR. The Huntersville, North Carolina-based team contends that Spire gave Gabehart a different title—chief motorsports officer—to conceal the true nature of his job responsibilities from JGR so he wouldn’t be viewed as being in violation of his noncompete clause in his JGR contract.