Co-owner Jeff Dickerson has expanded on Chris Gabehart’s new role as Chief Motorsports Officer at Spire Motorsports. The former No. 11 crew chief and competition director at Joe Gibbs Racing was sued by his former team for sharing key company details.

JGR’s amended complaint names Spire as a defendant. Team also seeks a temporary restraining order to block Gabehart from working in a similar competitive role until his non-compete period ends. The lawsuit claims Gabehart’s online activity and files could contain confidential material. JGR asserts his move to a rival team could unfairly benefit Spire and cost them more than $8M in damages.

To respond to the claims, Dickerson explained, in a statement on Saturday, that Gabehart’s role at Spire Motorsports will extend far beyond what he did at JGR. He noted that Spire has many racing programs, including its NASCAR Cup and Truck Series teams, ARCA, sprint car projects, late models, and manufacturing operations.

Gabehart, as Chief Motorsports Officer, is expected to connect those diverse parts and help them grow. Dickerson also gave a quiet reference to past tensions at JGR.

“In some ways, I just think it’s insulting to say that it’s the same role because it’s not the same role. We have a significant investment in Chris, and we’re giving him the autonomy to do what he needs to do, again not just to help the NASCAR program. We have the all these other businesses that need a lot of help too. That’s why we brought him in,” Dickerson said.

Gabehart’s email to JGR executives, included in court documents, described ongoing issues with internal team dynamics. He wrote that family ownership and organizational interference limited his ability to make decisions and left him in a no-win situation.

“I’ve been embarrassed both internally and externally. You asked me to do a job and then gave me no internal or public support to actually do the job. In my view, the way was never cleared and therefore my ability to do the job was compromised,” Chris Gabehart wrote in an email in November, 2025.

Gabehart added that family members and top team executives, including Heather Gibbs, the mother of No. 45 driver Ty Gibbs, are intertwined in his work as competition director.

According to JGR’s court filings, Gabehart asked for full authority over all competition matters near the end of the 2025 season but was denied.

Chris Gabehart accuses JGR of ‘punishing’ him for leaving

Chris Gabehart has made his case. He commissioned an independent forensic audit and stated that it found no evidence of his sharing confidential information with Spire. Gabehart also framed the lawsuit as punishment for ‘daring to leave’ his former employer rather than a genuine effort to protect trade secrets.

“This lawsuit is not about protecting trade secrets. It is about punishing a former employee for daring to leave,” Chris Gabehart said.

Chris Gabehart left JGR after a long and successful run with the organization. He joined the team in 2012 as an engineer and worked his way up to crew chief for Denny Hamlin, where he collected 22 Cup victories, including multiple Daytona 500 wins. Ahead of the 2025 season, JGR promoted Gabehart to competition director.