Joe Gibbs Racing is asking the Western District of North Carolina to hold Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports in civil contempt because it claims both defendants have violated the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction placed against them in March.
Specifically, JGR is asking that the defendants appear in court to explain why they should not be held in contempt. This is all part of the ongoing lawsuit and countersuit between the three parties that stemmed from Gabehart leaving JGR at the end of last season, where he was accused of breaching contract and also taking proprietary information with him to benefit Spire.
Since the litigation began, the court has issued an order that Gabehart cannot offer services to Spire similar to the competition director duties he performed at Gibbs during the 2025 season.
This includes preparing/executing car and race strategies, overseeing analytics and processes to improve performance, attending weekly competition and post-race meetings, giving input on setups, aerodynamics, and operations.
Gibbs is arguing to the court that Gabehart has done exactly that on numerous occasions this season and that Spire has enabled this workaround by giving him the ‘Chief Motorsports Officer; title and a ‘all things racing’ role that JGR is arguing is deceptive in nature.
In the motion, JGR says Spire failed to impose meaningful restrictions on Gabehart within the company until months after litigation commenced.
“JGR respectfully requests that the Court order Gabehart and Spire to appear and show cause why they should not be held in contempt for failure to comply with this Court’s TRO and PI, find that their conduct is contemptuous, award JGR its costs and fees in bringing this Motion, and grant any other relief to which JGR is justly entitled.”
To make this point, JGR has filed dozens of documents containing email records, depositions and text messages that contained instances where Gabehart was acting in a role similar to a competition director after the court issued an order.
Examples provided
“On March 21, 2026, while the TRO was effective, Gabehart discussed technical details and issues regarding Spire’s No. 77 and No. 71 cars with Matt McCall, Spire’s Cup Series competition director.”
“A week later, on March 28, 2026, Spire’s top Cup Series driver Carson
Hocevar relayed specific technical difficulties with his car to Gabehart by text message, and Gabehart responded: ‘stop.’
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