Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has filed a request in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina to bring Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports to court for civil contempt. The team alleges that both defendants have violated the temporary restraining orders and the preliminary injunction issued in March.
Specifically, JGR requests that the defendants appear before the court to explain why they should not be held in contempt. This request is part of a broader lawsuit stemming from Gabehart’s exit from JGR at the end of last season, where he was accused of breaching his contract and taking confidential information to benefit Spire.
Background of the lawsuit
Since the beginning of the legal process, the court has ruled that Gabehart cannot provide services to Spire similar to those he performed as competition director at JGR during the 2025 season. This includes preparing and executing race strategies, overseeing analytics to improve performance, and participating in weekly competition meetings.
JGR argues that Gabehart has acted contrary to this order on several occasions during the season and that Spire has facilitated this violation by appointing him ‘Chief Motorsports Officer’, a title JGR considers misleading.
Evidence of contempt
JGR’s request includes numerous documents, emails, and text messages showing instances where Gabehart performed duties similar to those of a competition director, despite the court order. For example, on March 21, 2026, Gabehart discussed technical details of Spire’s No. 77 and No. 71 cars with Matt McCall, Spire’s competition director.
Additionally, on March 28, Carson Hocevar, Spire’s star driver, shared technical difficulties with Gabehart via text message. This exchange has been interpreted as an obvious violation of the court’s order.
Witness statements
Spire’s technical director, Dax Gerringer, confirmed in a statement that Gabehart attended several competition meetings and made technical recommendations during a meeting on April 20, 2026, following the Cup Series race in Kansas.
For his part, Jeff Dickerson, co-owner of Spire, admitted that Gabehart had been hired, in part, to assess the team’s situation and equipment needs.
Message deletion
A controversial aspect of the lawsuit is the deletion of text messages by Gabehart, who deleted all his conversation history with Dickerson a few days after receiving a job offer from Spire. JGR is asking the court to consider this act as a deliberate attempt to undermine his ability to defend himself.
JGR argues that Gabehart has deliberately erased documents and notes related to his work at Spire and that his actions can be seen as a lack of respect for the court.
What is JGR asking the court?
In its motion, JGR wants the court to determine that Gabehart acted with the intention of harming JGR and requests that the jury be allowed to infer that the erased communication contained harmful information for Gabehart. This includes discussions with Dickerson about the job offer and the use of confidential information from JGR.
Reported by FormulaRapidaAI
