Joe Gibbs Racing Pursues $8 Million Lawsuit Against Former Competition Director Chris Gabehart Alleging Trade Secret Theft

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), a prominent organization in NASCAR, has filed a sweeping lawsuit seeking upwards of $8 million in damages from its former competition director, Chris Gabehart. The legal action, lodged in the Western District of North Carolina, accuses Gabehart of misappropriating sensitive company information and trade secrets for the benefit of a direct competitor, Spire Motorsports.

The lawsuit, initiated on Thursday, outlines a detailed narrative of Gabehart’s tenure and alleged subsequent actions following his departure from JGR. According to the legal filing, Gabehart served as a senior leader responsible for "all competitive aspects of the business" until November 10, 2025. The complaint asserts that after his demands for increased authority were denied by JGR owner Joe Gibbs, Gabehart "immediately 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 Motorsports."

JGR’s legal team claims that Gabehart’s actions constitute a violation of his contractual obligations and have resulted in significant financial damages. The lawsuit is brought under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, which provides a private right of action for owners of trade secrets that are misappropriated and are related to commerce. While the complaint states that damages exceed $8,000,000, the final compensation amount will be determined by a jury should the case proceed to trial.

The 30-page complaint meticulously details a timeline of events, beginning with an alleged offer Gabehart received from Spire Motorsports to assume the role of Chief Motorsports Officer. Simultaneously, JGR alleges Gabehart was engaged in a scheme to exploit proprietary JGR information in his new capacity.

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Central to the accusation is JGR’s claim that Gabehart synchronized his personal Google Drive with his team-issued laptop. This laptop reportedly contained a folder specifically labeled "Spire," which housed photos of confidential team information, including employee compensation data, car set-ups, and performance analyses for drivers, crew chiefs, and pit crews.

The lawsuit further contends that Gabehart accessed these files even while negotiating a separation settlement and on the same day he met with Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson. JGR asserts that it ceased negotiations regarding a separation package on December 15, following these revelations, and issued a cease and desist order. Subsequently, the team initiated a forensic review of Gabehart’s electronic devices, which forms the bedrock of the current lawsuit.

Gabehart’s compensation from JGR was substantial. His contract, included as an exhibit to the lawsuit, indicates a base salary of $1,000,000 for the previous season, his first year as competition director. This role followed over a decade with the team, where he served as an engineer and subsequently as a crew chief. His compensation package also included performance bonuses.

According to JGR, Gabehart was in direct violation of his employment agreement, specifically Section 5, which mandates that an employee shall not disclose or use confidential information for any purpose other than performing duties under the agreement, unless such information becomes generally known.

The legal filing states that Gabehart expressed dissatisfaction with his role during the 2025 season, seeking a significant promotion. The complaint quotes: "He wanted complete responsibility and control over all departments supporting JGR’s competition efforts instead of working with other departments supporting JGR’s competition efforts as a peer. … Eventually, Defendant’s dissatisfaction reached a boiling point, and he requested a meeting with JGR owner, Joe Gibbs to voice his demands. Coach Gibbs agreed to meet Defendant on November 6, 2025. During that meeting, Defendant requested additional job authority that would give Defendant carte blanche authority over all racing decisions."

Joe Gibbs reportedly declined to grant Gabehart the requested expansive responsibilities on November 6, presenting him with a choice: remain as competition director or depart. The lawsuit states that Gabehart indicated a preference to leave JGR, prompting the team to begin preparing terms for his separation and future employment elsewhere.

The initial separation proposal, presented on November 10, permitted Gabehart to work for another NASCAR team, provided he agreed not to solicit key employees and contractors and to cooperate in returning JGR equipment and information. However, JGR alleges that during negotiations, Gabehart’s counsel repeatedly edited the draft agreement in a manner that appeared calculated to enable him to immediately solicit JGR employees.

It was during this period that JGR became aware of Gabehart’s personal meetings with Jeff Dickerson, which raised suspicions within the organization. On December 17, Gabehart agreed to return any team information but reportedly objected to a forensic review of his devices.

The lawsuit highlights representations made by Gabehart regarding a "Spire" folder on his Google Drive, which he claimed was used for personal notes and records. JGR asserts this was untrue. Gabehart also reportedly represented that he had not retained documents concerning JGR’s sensitive financial data, which JGR alleges was also false, citing photos taken on November 7, 2025, that contained significant financial information.

Negotiations between Gabehart and JGR continued, with Gabehart reportedly stating that Spire’s offer "was not to provide similar services to those he provided to JGR." The parties eventually agreed to a forensic protocol involving a third-party expert tasked with identifying JGR information on Gabehart’s devices and securely deleting confirmed JGR information.

Gabehart provided his devices to the examiner on January 12, and the examiner forwarded the files to JGR’s counsel on January 27. The JGR-related files were deleted from Gabehart’s devices on February 4. On February 11, JGR reportedly learned that Gabehart’s role at Spire would encompass responsibility for all of the team’s racing strategy and operations. This revelation was significant, as JGR claims Gabehart had previously represented on December 17, 2025, that his Spire offer was for a role where he would not provide services similar to those he provided to JGR. JGR concluded that Gabehart’s initial resistance to a forensic examination was to prevent the demonstration that he had disclosed JGR’s confidential information and trade secrets to third parties, including Spire.

The complaint constructs a detailed timeline, noting that following his November 6 meeting with Gibbs where he expressed a preference to leave, Gabehart accessed his company laptop on November 7 at 2:45 p.m. while it was connected to JGR’s network. During this session, he allegedly accessed "JGR’s most sensitive Confidential Information and Trade Secrets and, using his personal cell phone, took at least twenty photos of his laptop screen." These photos, referred to as the "November 7 Photos," were reportedly saved to his personal phone and personal Google Photos account. The lawsuit indicates these photos contained sensitive financial data, employee compensation details, performance metrics, and other proprietary information.

The legal filing further states that Gabehart accessed and interacted with the "Spire" folder on his Google Drive on multiple occasions in November and December 2025, including on December 2, the same day he met with Jeff Dickerson. All of this proprietary information was allegedly synced to Gabehart’s personal accounts.

The case has been assigned to Judge Matthew E. Orso, who is also presiding over the Kyle Busch v. Pacific Life lawsuit. The next procedural step in this legal proceeding will involve Gabehart filing a formal response with the court. The full complaint filed by Joe Gibbs Racing is publicly available.

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