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Just when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier in NASCOURT, Joe Gibbs dropped a bomb. He reveals that he set up a private investigator to spy on Chris Gabehart regarding his intentions. Kenny Wallace wasn’t going to sit silent while all this happened. In a case that keeps becoming more controversial every passing moment, Wallace thinks that Gibbs’ ego is the primary motivation here.

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Kenny Wallace calls out JGR for shady intentions

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Kenny Wallace was quick to make fun of the situation that is going on. He takes a lighthearted jab at how things keep moving to the court in NASCAR. Recounting the recent lawsuit dramas, Wallace calls it a “soap opera.”

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On the topic of Joe Gibbs Racing, Wallace had a lot to say about the team owner.

“Joe Gibbs, like the old days, hired a private investigator to investigate and spy on Chris Gabehart. Right out of the damn movies. Chris Gabehart was talking with some people that he shouldn’t have been talking to, I guess… Coach Joe Gibbs is going after a precedence.”

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Not only that, he ridicules Gibbs for the insane penalty that he is demanding from Gabehart. Wallace argues that Gabehart might end up going bankrupt if he ends up losing the case.

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“I guess he is asking for millions of dollars from Chris Gabehart. Well, they know Chris doesn’t have that kind of money. Chris Gabehart might have to go borrow some money to pay.”

As he continues to explore the lawsuit and its implications, Wallace points the finger directly at Joe Gibbs for being too full of himself and trying to set a precedent of not going against him.

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“I believe that this is Coach Joe Gibbs’ way to set precedence in the sport. Coach Joe Gibbs want to win against Chris Gabehart and go, ‘Don’t any of you crew chiefs try this again.’ They’re saying that Chris strategized the leaving.

“Gabehart gathered up all this information, information he was trying to take with him. And the new one says that he was going to scheme to take some sponsors with him too.”

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When you look at it with that perspective, it is a rather terrifying thought. If Gibbs does end up winning the lawsuit, then it might spell doom for many crew chiefs. As Gabehart accused earlier, Joe Gibbs wanted to “punish” him for leaving.

In any case, if Gabehart does end up facing this punishment, it will send a wave of paranoia among many crew chiefs. Gabehart has made some grave accusations against Joe Gibbs in his declaration. If any of them are proven true and still Gabehart ends up on the receiving end of the penalty, the other crew chiefs and team members will think twice before trying to leave the team.

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Not only that, it will also impact Spire Motorsports massively. Their reputation already makes them look like losers among the rest of the grid. If Spire takes such a big hit in this case, it will fall behind massively among the other teams. What’s more, Gibbs’ victory in the lawsuit will also further strengthen the unspoken dominance of the Big 3 in the sport.

While Gabehart is dominating the lawsuit so far and the probability of victory lies in his favor, the reports from Joe Gibbs’ private investigation have affected the credibility of his statement.

However, it’s not as harmful as the setback he received from his former ally.

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Denny Hamlin turns his back on Chris Gabehart

Considering the success that Denny Hamlin has with Gabehart, you would expect the No. 11 JGR driver to side with him. If not, he would refrain from commenting on the matter and stay neutral until the matter settles down. However, his recent words show his loyalty towards his owner.

“The materials Gabehart took — including car setups, simulation files, post-race analytics, tire management strategies, fuel mileage calculations, and pit crew performance data — represent decades of JGR’s research, development, and innovation specifically designed to optimize speed and win races.”

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Hamlin suggests that it is important to shut down Gabehart and stop him from distributing the above materials. Failure to do so would result in a significant loss for JGR and NASCAR at large. The real truth of this matter will only reveal when the court case is settled.

Until then, we can only hope that Kenny Wallace’s warnings do not end up prevailing in the sport.

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Rohan Singh

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Rohan Singh is a NASCAR Writer at Essentially Sports who is accustomed to conveying his passion for motorsports to a large audience. He has previously created driver and event pages for NASCAR legends like Dale Earnhardt, Jimmie Johnson and the Crown Jewel events of the sport like the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400. As a writer, Rohan uses his understanding of the technical concepts of engineering to deconstruct the complex and highly technological motorsports vertical for his audience. He fell in love with motorsports in 2013, watching Sebastian Vettel claim his crown in India, and since then, he has been pursuing motorsports as his lifelong goal. Armed with the technical know-how and engineering expertise of a Mechanical Engineering degree, and pairing it with his journalistic experience of more than 600 articles in motorsports, Rohan likes to reel in his audience by simplifying the technicalities of the sport and authoring content which appeals to them as a dedicated motorsports fan himself.

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Suyashdeep Sason

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