Joe Gibbs Racing Adds Spire Motorsports to Lawsuit, Motions for Gabehart to Cease Work
What’s Happening? Joe Gibbs Racing has added to its lawsuit filed against former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, filing…
It’s no secret in the NASCAR community that the short track racing product has left a lot to be desired. Following this weekend’s race at New Hampshire, NASCAR will stage a test to find some new ways to improve the racing on short tracks. Here is everything you need to know about that test at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and how others are reacting to this.
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The test will take place on Monday, July 17 and Tuesday, July 18 following the Crayon 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. NASCAR also announced today the six drivers that would be at the test. Those drivers are Christopher Bell, Harrison Burton, William Byron, Justin Haley, Ryan Preece, and Erik Jones.
This means that there will be one Toyota team, two Ford teams, and three Chevrolet teams at the test. Bell is the lone driver at the test who has won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway before, and he and Byron are the only two drivers at the test who have won a race this season.
According to Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut, NASCAR is testing changes to allow drivers to both follow better and pass easier, with the biggest of these changes will be a brand new splitter. Corey LaJoie called the philosophy behind these changes “freaking wild” to Weaver.
Weaver further goes into detail about the new splitter NASCAR will be testing. He describes this new splitter as a “reverse splitter.” The goal is to give the leader lift in clean air, while giving the trailing car more downforce in dirty air.
Weaver also reports that NASCAR will be testing multiple downforce settings on the car including the changes to the underwing. NASCAR is also debuting a new tire compound for this weekend’s race at New Hampshire aimed at producing more tire wear, and, hopefully, more passing. This new tire compound has been something that many drivers, most specifically, Denny Hamlin, have advocated for to improve racing on short tracks.
NASCAR’s Managing Director of Racing Communications, Mike Forde, teased this short track test in a NASCAR on NBC podcast. He noted in the podcast that any changes because of this upcoming test would not be implemented until 2024.
[The changes] might not be able to be implemented in 2023, just because there is a lot of production following [the test], and to create seven different floors for 40 cars in a short period of time probably won’t happen.
Mike Forde
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Dale Earnhardt Jr. is putting the fate of short track racing in NASCAR on the shoulders of the drivers at this test.
Sam hall wants this to be a public test.
Yeah Mike, I do not think you will be getting your wish.
Patrick says that unless there is more horsepower, then there is no point.
Chad Depew is curious about the lack of “veterans” in the group.
Kaleb L still wonders why they are not testing more horsepower.
As for whether or not this will work, we will have to wait and see until next season. At the very least, NASCAR is looking at trying something new.
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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Chandler Smith will return to the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series this weekend and next weekend, driving the No. 5 Ford for Hettinger Racing.
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
A North Carolina judge says that Chris Gabehart can continue in his new role at Spire Motorsports. However, the former Joe Gibbs Racing Competition Director cannot perform the same services he supplied to JGR.
This ruling stemmed from a hearing last Friday, in which Joe Gibbs Racing made its case as to why Gabehart should not be allowed to continue in his new position at Spire.
In a court filing last Wednesday, JGR asked the court to prevent Gabehart from providing Spire with “services for Spire similar to those he provided to JGR” for at least 18 months after his termination in February. They also asked that Gabehart return any “Confidential Information and Trade Secrets.”
What’s Happening? Joe Gibbs Racing has added to its lawsuit filed against former Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart, filing…
Monday morning, a North Carolina Judge ruled that Gabehart can remain in his position as Spire’s Chief Motorsports Officer, though he is not allowed to perform similar duties that he did for JGR. The former Daytona 500 Champion must also return all information in his possession that belongs to JGR.
Spire claims that Gabehart’s new position is not similar to that of his previous position at JGR, as Matt McCall is the team’s current Competition Director.
Despite their pleasure with this ruling, in a statement following these orders, JGR clarified that their legal proceedings are far from over.
“We are pleased with today’s ruling by the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina for a temporary restraining order enforcing the terms of our contract with Chris Gabehart. We will continue the legal process to protect our information and fight for what is right for our race team, our employees, and our partners.” — Joe Gibbs Racing
JGR filed this lawsuit against Gabehart on February 19, claiming their former long-time “employee embarked on a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information and use it for the benefit of a direct competitor in NASCAR.”
Gabehart, in his filing, while throwing barbs at the current structure of JGR, and Joe Gibbs’s grandson Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 team in particular, has denied these allegations.
Spire, whom JGR added as a co-defendant in their filing last Wednesday, also denies these allegations.
In a filing Sunday evening, Spire showed that in February, Gabehart signed a Confidentiality Agreement and Non-Disclosure Agreement that said he would not “disclose JGR Confidential Information to Company or use JR Confidential Information for the Company’s benefit or in connection with any services performed for or on behalf of the Company.”
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
The NASCAR Truck Series takes the week off this week while the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series continue their Westward march to Phoenix Raceway. So, whether you are going to be at the track or home, what does the forecast look like for the race weekend in Avondale, Arizona?
Before the OAP Series Race (2:00 AM – 5:00 PM)
During the OAP Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
After the OAP Series Race (8:00 PM – 11:00 PM)
Before the Cup Series Race (10:00 AM – 1:00 PM)
During the Cup Series Race (1:00 PM – 4:00 PM)
After the Cup Series Race (4:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
Note: This article will be updated with a more accurate and detailed forecast as the race weekend nears.