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02/25 17:22 CST Chris Gabehart: Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit is 'punishing a former employee for daring to leave' Chris Gabehart: Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit is 'punishing a former employee for daring to leave' By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) --- The former competition director of Joe Gibbs Racing claimed Wednesday the Pro Football Hall of Fame coach is suing him for "daring to leave" the NASCAR team when the situation surrounding Gibbs' grandson became untenable at the organization. Chris Gabehart admitted in his declaration filed in the Western District of North Carolina that he did take photographs on his phone of a JGR excel file and other projects that he had played a role in developing. But Gabehart insisted his own forensic audit proved the information was never shared with any other organization. JGR has sued Gabehart for allegedly embarking on "a brazen scheme to steal JGR's most sensitive information" and on Tuesday night added Spire Motorsports to the suit. JGR also requested a restraining order preventing Gabehart from working for the rival team. JGR alleges Gabehart took proprietary information from the team to bring with him to his new role at Spire. Gabehart is challenging that narrative and claims his 13-year tenure at JGR began to unravel when he was pressured last season to crew chief Ty Gibbs, the grandson of the team owner, despite having been promoted to competition director at the end of 2024. "I notified JGR that the job was not, at all, as advertised. I was promised a COO-type role overseeing all competitive operations with autonomy to lead," Gabehart wrote in the declaration. "Instead, I found myself constantly intertwined with Coach Gibbs, senior JGR executives and family members when making even routine competition decisions --- a dysfunctional organizational structure that I could not continue in." Gabehart claims he expressed "serious concerns" about how Ty Gibbs' No. 54 team was managed, specifically that it was not held to the same standards as the teams for Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin, and that the car "was managed directly by Coach Gibbs and everyone in the organization knew it." Gabehart said he conceded to pressure to crew chief Ty Gibbs in a behind-the-scenes role and then in late June he called nine consecutive races on the pit box for the young driver. He maintains he offered specific examples of the No. 54 team's differential treatment that undermined him as competition director, specifically that Ty Gibbs "was not held to the same meeting attendance standards as others on the team." When the situation came to a head near the end of last season, Gabehart claims he began working on a separation agreement with JGR and was told to say he was "on vacation" if anyone asked why he was not working. He maintains JGR stopped paying him in November as negotiations over his parting grew contentious and talks eventually ceased. JGR has since sued, claiming Gabehart violated his contract and stole confidential team trade secrets when "his demands for additional authority were rebuffed by JGR's owner." JGR claims Gabehart has caused more than $8 million in damages to the organization. Gabehart maintains he paid for his own forensic audit and it showed "there is no evidence I transmitted, distributed, used or otherwise shared any JGR confidential information. No text messages. No email attachments. No dissemination whatsoever. "This lawsuit is not about protecting trade secrets," Gabehart claimed, "it is about punishing a former employee for daring to leave." JGR was founded by Joe Gibbs in 1992 after he won three Super Bowls as Washington's football coach. Gibbs is a member of both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and NASCAR Hall of Fame and now co-owns JGR with his daughter-in-law, Heather. Heather Gibbs is the mother of Ty Gibbs, who is at the start of his fourth full Cup season driving for his grandfather. Ty Gibbs was successful in NASCAR's second-level series, where he won 12 races and the 2022 championship. His father, Coy, was found dead in his hotel room the morning after Ty won the championship. Ty Gibbs moved to the Cup Series in 2023 and is winless in 125 starts. The 23 year old finished a career-best 15th in the 2024 Cup standings. Gabehart joined JGR in 2012 as an engineer, worked his way to crew chief for Hamlin, and became competition director ahead of the 2025 season. Gabehart spent six seasons as Hamlin's crew chief and the duo won 22 Cup races --- two of which were the Daytona 500 --- and qualified for the championship finale three times. Hamlin finished fifth or better in six seasons under Gabehart, while Hamlin's wins and laps-led were second-best in the Cup Series during that period. The lawsuit filed by JGR contends its own forensic audit after Gabehart said he no longer wanted to work for the organization found Google searches about Spire Motorsports, folders titled "Spire" and "Past Setups" and more than a dozen images of JGR files containing confidential information and trade secrets. Gabehart admits to taking the photos and creating the "Spire" folder, but said the folder was for his own evaluation of whether or not to join the rival race team. ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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