Judge: Gabehart permitted to work at Spire but not to fulfill JGR responsibilities
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A federal judge determined on Monday that former Joe Gibbs Racing competition director Chris Gabehart is permitted to continue his role with Spire Motorsports, provided it does not involve the same responsibilities he held with his previous NASCAR team.
Gabehart serves as the chief motorsports officer at Spire, a position that includes oversight of most of the racing assets of parent company TWG Global. He made his initial public appearance as a Spire employee over the weekend at the IndyCar event in St. Petersburg, Florida.
This ruling comes after an order from Susan C. Rodriguez, a U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of North Carolina, directing both parties to seek a resolution following a hearing on Friday regarding JGR’s request for a restraining order to bar Gabehart from working with Spire.
A full hearing on a preliminary injunction has been scheduled for March 16.
Rodriguez also mandated that Gabehart return all data and materials he possessed from JGR to the team owned by Joe Gibbs, who established the NASCAR organization in 1992 after achieving three Super Bowl victories as the coach of Washington’s football team. Gibbs is enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NASCAR Hall of Fame and currently co-owns JGR with his daughter-in-law, Heather. The team fields Cup cars for drivers Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, and Denny Hamlin.
Gibbs and his daughter-in-law were not present in court on Monday for the brief 10-minute session but did attend the hearing last Friday.
Gabehart is allowed to attend this weekend’s race at Phoenix Raceway, where both NASCAR and IndyCar will be in action. TWG Motorsports also owns Andretti Global in IndyCar.
Source: espn.com
