Lawsuit Update: Gabehart Calls JGR Competition Team “Dysfunctional,” Ty Gibbs “Not Accountable”
What’s Happening? Former Joe Gibbs Racing Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart has filed a new response slamming JGR as…
If there’s one thing anyone can seemingly agree upon with the Next-Gen car, it’s that they want an increase in horsepower, and fans often point to slower qualifying speeds to show how drastic the slowdown of recent years has been. Kevin Harvick pointed out on social media how much slower the 2023 pole laps at Kansas were compared to his record pole lap of better than 197 MPH in 2014. We’ve already discussed superspeedways, but, how much slower has the Next-Gen car been on other tracks?
| Era | Highest Pole Speed | Lowest Pole Speed |
| 900 HP (2013-2014) | 131.362 MPH (Bristol 2014) | 98.440 MPH (Martinsville 2013) |
| 750 HP (2015-2018; 2020-2021) | 131.407 MPH (Bristol 2015 AND 2016) | 96.254 MPH (Martinsville 2018) |
| 550 HP (2019) | 131.713 MPH (Bristol) | 97.830 MPH (Martinsville) |
| 670 HP (2022-Present) | 128.382 MPH (Bristol 2022) | 94.153 MPH (Martinsville 2023) |
Qualifying speeds at short tracks have remained relatively the same in terms of the range between the fastest and slowest tracks. However, speeds have generally decreased in the Next-Gen era on short tracks, despite more horsepower in the Next-Gen era. The Next-Gen era has produced the slowest qualifying speed on a short track of this area, coming at Martinsville in 2023.
| Era | Highest Pole Speed | Lowest Pole Speed |
| 900 HP (2013-2014) | 129.466 MPH (Watkins Glen 2014) | 94.986 MPH (Sonoma 2013) |
| 750 HP (2015-2018; 2020-2021) | 127.839 MPH (Watkins Glen 2015) | 92.363 MPH (COTA 2021) |
| 550 HP (2019) | 127.297 MPH (Watkins Glen) | 95.712 MPH (Sonoma) |
| 670 HP (2022-Present) | 125.298 MPH (Watkins Glen 2023) | 89.577 MPH (Chicago 2023) |
Much like short tracks, road courses haven’t seen a drastic drop-off in speed, but, it’s been there. The Chicago Street Race in 2023 saw the slowest qualifying speed, but, that was an inaugural race at the track. Sonoma, which has been on the schedule every year, saw a pole speed of 92.111 MPH in 2022, the slowest Sonoma has had since the introduction of the Gen-6 car. Regardless of the track, the Next-Gen is slower.
| Era | Highest Pole Speed | Lowest Pole Speed |
| 900 HP (2013-2014) | 164.444 MPH (Dover 2014) | 135.922 MPH (New Hampshire 2013) |
| 750 HP (2015-2018; 2020-2021) | 160.644 MPH (Dover 2017) | 133.077 MPH (New Hampshire 2017) |
| 550 HP (2019) | 166.684 MPH (Dover) | 136.384 MPH (New Hampshire) |
| 670 HP (2022-Present) | 162.191 MPH (Dover 2024) | 124.781 MPH (New Hampshire 2022) |
This is the first track type where we see a subtle increase in speed compared to a Next-Gen era. Dover in 2019 saw the fastest speed on this track type in this era, which was over 4 MPH faster than the fastest of the Gen-6 era. However, the floor of the Next-Gen has been far lower, with New Hampshire in 2023 producing only a 124.781 MPH lap.
| Era | Highest Pole Speed | Lowest Pole Speed |
| 900 HP (2013-2014) | 199.299 MPH (Texas 2014) | 177.677 MPH (Homestead 2013) |
| 750 HP (2015-2018) | 200.505 MPH (Texas 2018) | 173.863 MPH (Homestead 2018) |
| 550 HP (2019-2021) | 189.707 MPH (Texas 2019) | 172.487 MPH (Darlington 2019) |
| 670 HP (2022-Present) | 190.369 MPH (Texas 2024) | 160.687 MPH (Nashville 2023) |
Intermediate tracks have remained relatively stagnant with their top speed since the 550 HP package era was introduced. The Next-Gen car has less downforce, so, despite more horsepower, the cars go slower in the corners, keeping the average speed the same. The lows are, once again, far lower with Nashville above, but, they are a new addition to the schedule. Homestead in 2022 has the next slowest speed on this track type at 166.389 MPH.
| Era | Highest Pole Speed | Lowest Pole Speed |
| 900 HP (2013-2014) | 206.558 MPH (Michigan 2014) | 180.654 MPH (Pocono 2013) |
| 750 HP (2015-2018) | 203.361 MPH (Michigan 2018) | 176.897 MPH (Pocono 2018) |
| 550 HP (2019-2021) | 190.471 MPH (Michigan 2019) | 173.494 MPH (Pocono 2019) |
| 670 HP (2022-Present) | 193.382 MPH (Michigan 2023) | 170.629 MPH (Pocono 2022) |
Michigan has been one of the, and, if not, the fastest track on the calendar since its’ repave in 2012. From the highs of over 206 MPH in 2014, Michigan has not seen a qualifying lap crack 194 since the 550 package era. However, the increased horsepower of the Next-Gen car has seen a slight increase in speed there. At its slowest, the Next-Gen is, once again, the slowest of the packages with its Pocono speed in 2022.
| Era | Highest Pole Speed | Lowest Pole Speed |
| 900 HP* (2013-2014) | 199.322 MPH (Daytona 2014) | 193.723 MPH (Daytona 2013) |
| 750 HP* (2015-2018) | 201.293 MPH (Daytona 2015) | 190.544 MPH (Talladega 2017) |
| 550 HP* (2019-2021) | 194.582 MPH (Daytona 2020) | 191.261 MPH (Daytona 2021) |
| 670 HP* (2022-Present) | 182.022 MPH (Talladega 2024) | 180.591 MPH (Talladega 2023) |
Superspeedways have seen the most drastic speed increase in the Next-Gen era. With the increased drag of this package, the cars are not nearly as fast in a straight line, meaning the cars are well over 10 MPH slower than they were in the Gen-6 era. In the draft, the cars still speed at nearly 200 MPH.
Generally speaking, the Next-Gen car is slower than the Gen-6 car, but, the 550 package era sometimes cannot reach the speed of the Next-Gen. This is down to the qualities of the Next-Gen car.
The Next-Gen car has 120 more horsepower than the 550 package Gen-6 cars, increasing top speed. However, the Next-Gen car has significantly less downforce on non-restricted race tracks, which means the cars cannot hold the same speed through the corners. This means the overall lap time slows down even if the potential top speed is higher.
Yes, the Gen-6 car is generally slower, despite the subtle increase in horsepower from the Gen-6 era. Is this a sign for NASCAR to give the cars a power bump?
An email sent by former Joe Gibbs Racing Competition Director Chris Gabehart claims that resentment towards him from members of the Gibbs family made him feel that the future of JGR was a “no-win situation.”
Last week, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a lawsuit against former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, claiming that the former Daytona 500 Champion had schemed to steal vital information from the team in the lead-up to his departure from JGR for Spire Motorsports.
Not even ten days since JGR filed this lawsuit, the two have continued to trade barbs and accusations back and forth through the court system.
In a filing earlier this week, Gabehart accused the team of misleading him in his duties as competition director in 2025, and specifically calling out JGR’s No. 54 team, driven by Joe Gibbs’ grandson Ty, alleging that the team received “differential treatment.”
Friday, an email sent to JGR CFO Tim Carmichael by Gabehart in November 2025 (released as part of this lawsuit) showed just how uncomfortable he had grown working at JGR during his tenure as Competition Director, with the industry veteran stating that Ty Gibbs and his mother, Heather, held “resentment” towards Gabehart.
The now former Competition Director went on to say in this email that, as the two were the future bosses of JGR, “I’m afraid that leaves me in a no-win situation.”
These exchanges, including the claims made by Gibbs in his filing earlier this week, have swept fans into a whirlwind of sorts, with the two sides even meeting in court today for the lawsuit’s first official hearing.
Of course, Gabehart’s claims about the state of operations at JGR pale in comparison to the accusations made by the Gibbs team in their initial lawsuit.
On Tuesday, the team even added Spire Motorsports, Gabehart’s current employer, as a co-defendant, and requested the court force Gabehart to sit out at least the 18 months since his termination before doing any work in NASCAR similar to his role at JGR.
The team is also asking that any information procured by Spire from Gabehart be returned, though the CEO of TWG Motorsports, which owns Spire, Dan Towriss, told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports Friday that “Spire doesn’t want data from Joe Gibbs Racing. It doesn’t have data from Joe Gibbs Racing. No point in time has it had data from Joe Gibbs Racing.”
Alongside Spire, Gabehart adamantly denied any wrongdoing in a post to social media last week, saying, “I feel compelled to speak out today and forcefully and emphatically deny these frivolous and retaliatory claims.”
What’s Happening? Former Joe Gibbs Racing Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart has filed a new response slamming JGR as…
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A few years ago, I looked at the racetracks preserved on iRacing that no longer exist in real life. After digging deeper, I expected to find one common reason they all shut down. Instead, each one tells a completely different story — from booming cities and land value spikes to ownership changes, broken promises, and even mysteries that still don’t have clear answers.
Some tracks were pushed out by urban development. Some lost the one person fighting to keep them alive. Others faded due to declining support — or were never meant to last forever in the first place. No two closures are the same, and that’s what makes this deep dive so fascinating.
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NASCAR’s documentary series “Full Speed,” which used to live on Netflix, had its first two seasons look back at entire playoff runs. But now, NASCAR is shifting the series to Amazon Prime Video for its third season, and the scope of the series will also shift to new storylines.
Dropping on March 5, the new season is aimed at zooming in on one event: the 2026 Daytona 500. Instead of a multi-episode run, this time it’s a single-episode documentary that goes all in on one race.
The film will follow big names and storylines from the Daytona 500. It will spotlight the winner, Tyler Reddick, and lean into driver storylines around the weekend. That includes Kyle Busch trying to get his groove back, Brad Keselowski clawing his way back after a broken leg, Connor Zilisch being pushed as the next big thing, and Noah Gragson bringing chaos wherever he goes.
Some fans might question the move away from Netflix, especially after Season 1 pulled in 3.4 million views in the first half of 2024. Then in 2025, the docuseries clocked 900,000 views after its early May release and added another 200,000 between July and December.
But with Prime Video stepping in as one of NASCAR’s broadcast partners, moving the series lines up with a bigger play to keep content under one roof.
Amazon has already dipped into NASCAR storytelling with projects like the docuseries Earnhardt about Dale Earnhardt. Moving Full Speed to Prime follows the same playbook. And for fans who still haven’t seen previous installments, the first two seasons are also heading over to Prime Video.
However, Reddit fans are divided in their opinions about the decision. Some fans actually get why NASCAR changed the format and platform, while a chunk of fans think leaving Netflix is risky because Netflix is where casual viewers stumble into shows. Others push back, pointing out that Prime actually has a massive reach in the U.S. and strong marketing muscle.
While one fan commented, “Makes sense. I highly doubt they were gonna make a new season around a points format they don’t use anymore,” another stated, “Idk the semantics and numbers and everything behind it so I’m probably talking out of my ass….buttttttt….at what point does nascar take the less money for the exposure. You need to be on Netflix, people watch Netflix. People don’t watch Amazon video as much. Who’s gonna watch this that isn’t a nascar fan already. You have a higher chance of getting people lost on Netflix than lost on Amazon Prime Video.”
One fan commented on the news, saying, “100%. I have Amazon Prime and Netflix. AP is a train wreck for videos especially now with their ad program with videos. I steer clear because Netflix is still ad free.” Another fan supported NASCAR’s move, saying, “Prime actually has slightly more subscribers in the USA and in my opinion is better at marketing. It’s a lateral move.”
Another backed NASCAR, stating, “Most NASCAR fans will find some way to be on prime in the month of June. I think they are counting on people watching it then if they have not already seen it. Similar to the Earnhardt documentary that dropped in June last year.”
Another fan comment implied something less glamorous yet very real, pointing out that the Netflix seasons didn’t see a surge in viewership. The first season did okay, but later numbers dipped: “Netflix didn’t seem to work that well for the 2 playoff seasons.”
Will you be watching on Prime Video? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.