Joe Gibbs Racing has been stubborn in its argument against Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports, claiming that they’ve violated the court’s restraining order. U.S. District Judge Susan C. Rodriguez allowed Gabehart to work with Spire but barred him from performing duties that overlapped with his role at JGR. Now, despite Spire’s repeated pushback, the team has finally taken a step to address the controversy. But will it be enough to satisfy JGR? Apparently, not even close.

Gabehart is now on administrative leave at Spire Motorsports, and Joe Gibbs Racing is doubling down on its claim that Spire and Gabehart violated the restraining order.

According to Motorsport.com, JGR claims Spire only took steps like revoking Gabehart’s work email, confiscating his company laptop, restricting his system access, and removing him from Cup Series competition meetings after JGR filed a motion seeking to hold both Spire and Gabehart in contempt of court.

In JGR’s view, these were not proactive efforts to follow the court’s restrictions but simply a way to limit the “damage” once the legal pressure mounted.

“Defendants’ claims of good faith compliance with the Court’s Orders also fall short. Contrary to Defendants’ assertion, Spire’s repeated decisions to curtail Gabehart’s access to its systems and his involvement in the Cup Series were not the result of proactive compliance; they were damage control,” JGR stated in the motion, which was shared by Matt Weaver.

The laptop, though, is only part of the problem!

During the October 1 hearing, the team alleged that Gabehart retained access to JGR files through a personal OneDrive account until late June 2026, months after he left the organization.

With its latest motion, JGR is arguing that Gabehart had access to proprietary information while working with a direct competitor.

So far, though, JGR hasn’t proved that Spire Motorsports benefited from the alleged trade secrets Gabehart stole from his former employer. Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson publicly took shots at his rival while speaking on the Door Bumper Clear podcast.

“It would just be nice to see some evidence. That’s all. It would just be nice. It feels like we’re just taking a lot of shots or a lot of bullets are coming our way. I just don’t know how we’re supposed to prove negatives and I don’t know how we’re supposed to just sit here and take it also. It’s tough to sit in court and you hear that you’re all these things.”

Now, there’s a reason why JGR is bullish on its arguments that the restraining order was violated.

Carson Hocevar texted Gabehart seeking feedback on his No. 77 Chevy. Also, Spire Motorsports had Gabehart attend five to twelve Cup Series competition meetings and did not remove him from this role until early June.

But, Spire has argued that discussing topics such as tire pressures does not constitute the sharing of trade secrets. It has also argued that Gabehart’s attendance at Cup races and meetings is no different from that of another executive, such as Jeff Gordon, accompanying his team.

The entire case in itself has snowballed into a much larger legal war, involving more than 80 third-party subpoenas and several high-profile depositions. Now, private text messages have also come to light, adding more fuel to the case.

A chain of messages between Heather Gibbs, co-owner of JGR, and Wally Brown was presented in court. The conversation took place in August 2025, when Gabehart was asked to call races for Ty Gibbs despite being a competition director. And it showed what the internal dynamics were months before Gabehart, left.

“Oh my gosh what a total nightmare. I have never seen someone have keys to world with a red carpet completely self implode. We have created a monster. He absolutely can’t lead even if we tried to coach him up. We need to protect our employees.” This was Heather’s reply when asked about the Gabehart situation.

She continued her criticism with some harsh words aimed at Gabehart: “So manipulative and cancerous which is what we already have enough of.”

With both sides continuing with the accusations, the next big question is, of course, what the evidence will reveal. The court, for now, is asking for more.

On October 7, US Magistrate Judge David Keesler ordered JGR to finalize its list of alleged trade secrets. He also directed JGR and Spire to hand over their final, as-raced NASCAR Cup Series setup sheets from the 2025 and 2026 seasons by October 13.

It is worth noting that both JGR and Spire are in the discovery phase, and they are scheduled for trial on February 1, 2027.