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…
The Hendrick Motorsports Napa Number 9 team laid an egg at Watkins Glen last weekend. Chase Elliott qualified a disappointing 15th, and crew chief Alan Gustafson was forced to do an outside-the-box strategy. The strategy seemed to be working until a critical miscalculation was realized too late, and Elliott ran out of fuel on the backstretch.
The day was done from there as Elliott fell off the lead lap, and he would finish 32nd. People heavily criticized Gustafson on social media over it, with many calling for him to be fired from Hendrick Motorsports. Gustafson certainly deserves some criticism for what happened, but does he deserve that level of criticism?
The old saying in sports is “We win and lose as a team”, and motorsports is no different. Sure, the driver gets the trophy, but it takes a full group of people to set a car up the way a driver needs it to be to win. As was evidenced by the lead in this article, Gustafson’s miscalculation was not the only thing that went wrong last weekend.
Gustafson made a major mistake, and he deserves his fair share of criticism for that. His job is to put together the best race strategy for Chase Elliott, and he made a crucial miscalculation. However, to say that was the sole reason why Elliott is 101 points out of the Playoffs is just wrong.
A lot happened that weekend to put Elliott in that position. Not to mention the races Elliott missed earlier in the season because of both an injury and a suspension. Gustafson and the number nine team were put in a bad spot because of this, and they could not find a way to win a race to make the Playoffs.
The fact that Elliott could not win a race can be chalked up to the race team, but it was Elliott who helped put them in that must-win situation to begin with. You simply cannot blame everything on one miscalculation that Gustafson had.
While, yes, Gustafson deserves criticism for what happened at Watkins Glen, it cannot be all pinned on him, and it’s also important to look at his pedigree as a crew chief.
In an effort to explain why he felt Alan Gustafson should be fired, @NickBaumann9_16 showed Gustafson’s stats as a crew chief. Objectively, this has the exact opposite effect of showing how bad Gustafson has been.
In 19 full-time seasons as a Cup Series crew chief, Gustafson has 38 wins and one Cup Series Championship. If that was a driver’s resume, then he is a no-brainer Hall of Fame driver. He has had great drivers, but he has done exactly what he is supposed to do with elite drivers, win races.
He made a major mistake at Watkins Glen, but, is that enough to get rid of him entirely? He is one of the better NASCAR Cup Series crew chiefs of this generation as is evidenced by the stats.
Look, the frustration is understandable as Chase Elliott missing the NASCAR Playoffs would be inexcusable under normal circumstances. Well, these are not normal circumstances, and the pedigree of the two together could keep them together.
The lack of a race win this season, however, is definitely a tough pill to swallow for them. Maybe that statistic could predicate the need for a change, but, the circumstances surrounding it are not ideal in any way. Saying Gustafson should be fired or he is overrated is a very strong statement based on one race.
While he may not have the accolades of some of the top names in NASCAR, collectors in the NASCAR community are starting to take notice of some outrageous resale prices for Carson Hocevar merchandise. So what exactly is going on here?
Of every subgroup within the NASCAR community, be that gamers, car fanatics, or just motorsports fans, there is perhaps no group more passionate than NASCAR collectors.
Whether it’s cards, sheet metal, merch, or diecast, NASCAR collectors have built a sprawling community of their own across the online NASCAR world to discuss everything you can imagine, from diecast production rumors to what collectables are fetching the highest prices.
A major topic of discussion in the NASCAR collector community this week, specifically in a now-deleted post to the r/NASCAR subreddit, was some sky-high prices for memorabilia of one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ most talked-about drivers, Carson Hocevar.
It’s no surprise that fans are clamoring for more Hocevar collectables. After all, he might have one of the most well-received personalities and racing styles in sports’ recent history, with many fans taking to his unapologetic racing and outgoing personality.
Of course, he has his detractors, as, at the same time, some of his fellow drivers have warned of some form of karma catching up to the former Rookie of the Year down the road.
But, if there were ever any doubt as to whether or not “Hurricane” Hocevar was shooting up the popularity charts in the grandstands, look no further than some of his merchandise being sold on sites like eBay.
For example, a Chili’s snapback hat that is similar to one that retailed for $50 on Spire Motorsports’ website before quickly selling out was recently resold on eBay for $122.50.
Now, a 145% increase is a lot for an unsigned, or non-race used hat (that also features no reference to Hocevar, Spire, or even the No. 77 team) might seem like an outlier, but what about a 1:64 scale diecast?
Well, prices are shooting up in that department as well, as an eBay auction for a 1:64 scale diecast of his 2025 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet, which Lionel retailed for $11.75, sold for $41.00 just this morning.
If you think that’s a high price to buy a 1:64 at, what about 1:24 scale diecast? Well, this time you might want to sit down, because, on Wednesday afternoon, a 1:24 scale diecast of Hocevar’s Zeigler paint scheme from his 2024 Rookie of the Year season sold for $449.99.
Now it’s fun to window shop these wild prices, but they may leave you asking why they’re selling for that much.
Now, there are a lot of reasons why NASCAR merchandise will spike in value, and looking at the forces that are behind Hocevar, there is little to suggest that these high prices are going down anytime soon.
First, given his recent performance, some fans could see buying now as an investment, hoping that these items could pull a pretty penny down the line should Hocevar develop into a title contender.
This is similar to how a driver like Kyle Larson has seen their early merchandise (such as diecast from his days at Chip Ganassi Racing) skyrocket in value as his success and popularity have grown in and even outside of the NASCAR community.
Of course, not every NASCAR collector is in it for the current or future value of the item. For example, there are completionist collectors who collect every diecast or hat they can find for one specific driver or team.
Finally, there are those who, plain and simple, like Hocevar, and want to show their pride in whatever they can.
After all, whether it’s his social media presence, his on-track actions, or off-track persona, Hocevar is proving to a lot of drivers in the garage that personality goes a long way.
But, nonetheless, these different groups have all combined to make a highly competitive marketplace for Hocevar’s merchandise, pushing prices to levels that, just a handful of years ago, seemed highly unlikely for the upstart Rookie just promoted from the Craftsman Truck Series.
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iRacing has finally given NASCAR fans a first look at the in-game model of the NASCAR Ram Truck slated to join the racing sim’s lineup in the near future.
Though iRacing says the Ram model is still pending approvals, this announcement marks a major milestone for Ram in its 2026 return to NASCAR, as this is the first appearance the brand will make in motorsports gaming in well over a decade.
Of course, the next major question facing Ram will be its inclusion in iRacing’s next edition of their console-based NASCAR game series, which most expect to be titled NASCAR 26.
iRacing was open about its use of models from its self-titled subscription-based online racing service for NASCAR 25. But, as of press time, they have yet to announce any details about the next game, although it’s fair for players to assume the Ram model used for iRacing will likely be used in the next NASCAR console game.
The NASCAR news for iRacing Season 2 didn’t stop at Ram, as iRacing also confirmed that the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, a new addition to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule in 2026, will join its track list during Season 2.
iRacing also confirmed tweaks to the in-game physics of both the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, focused on updating the series’ in-game drafting model.
But the biggest news of all (beyond Ram, of course) is that iRacing plans to have NASCAR’s San Diego Street Circuit at Naval Base Coronado ready for play before the end of the 2026 season, with the Development Update claiming they are targeting a release date sometime in June.
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Former Joe Gibbs Racing Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart is claiming in court documents that he was “pressured” to be Ty Gibbs’ Crew Chief for a small portion of the 2025 season. While this partnership didn’t last long, the stats suggest that Gabehart could have been a difference maker for the young driver’s 2025 season.
In just six seasons as a NASCAR Cup Series Crew Chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, Chris Gabehart delivered the team 22 NASCAR Cup Series wins, including back-to-back Daytona 500 wins, all with driver Denny Hamlin.
His time as Crew Chief came to an end last season, when Gabehart was seemingly promoted to Competition Director, which most assumed would be his new long-term post at the team.
Surprisingly, this was not the case, as at year’s end, despite 13 wins, 47 top fives, and 69 top tens for the team’s cars, Gabehart left the team for Spire Motorsports under mysterious circumstances.
While things had seemed odd for Gabehart during his short tenure as Competition Director, including a stretch in which he served as a de facto Crew Chief for Ty Gibbs, it seemed that the transition to a new role at JGR had been a winning move for the team.
This drama came to a head last week, when JGR filed a lawsuit against Gabehart, alleging that the former employee used various methods to steal information, such as car setups to give to his new employer.
Though Gabehart has denied any wrongdoing, he leveled a few allegations of his own against JGR in a court filing Wednesday afternoon.
In his filing, Gabehart accused JGR of misleading him in his new role, saying that he found himself answering to JGR leadership and members of the Gibbs family “when making even routine competition decisions.”
“I was promised a COO-type role overseeing all competitive operations with autonomy to lead. 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.” — Chris Gabehart.
Nonetheless, the NASCAR community’s major takeaway from this filing was Gabehart’s claims about his time serving as Crew Chief for Joe Gibbs’ grandson Ty Gibbs in 2025.
Gabehart says that Joe Gibbs “repeatedly pressured me to take over as crew chief of the No. 54 car.”
The veteran shot caller claims he finally gave in to these pleas during the summer, taking over for Crew Chief Tyler Allen at the June 28, 2025, race at EchoPark Speedway, before leaving this post after the Regular Season Finale at Daytona, tallying nine total races atop the No. 54’s pit box.
“Despite my objections, Coach Gibbs and ownership continued pressing, and I eventually conceded to the pressure by first helping the No. 54 team more behind the scenes and then, beginning on June 28, 2025, by publicly serving as the crew chief and calling the races on Sundays for nine consecutive races before returning those duties to the original crew chief, Tyler Allen, against the strong desires of ownership, when I made it clear that I did not want to serve as a crew chief for the long term.” — Chris Gabehart.
During this stretch of races, fans could hear Gabehart over Gibbs’ radio during this time, though, at least initially for that first listed date at EchoPark, JGR claimed that he was serving as a race strategist for the No. 54 team, though this could have been the case for this one race.
Nonetheless, despite Gabehart’s claims, the entry lists for that nine-race stretch list Allen as the Crew Chief for the No. 54.
Ultimately, his relationship with the team continued to sour after his time as the No. 54 Crew Chief, with Gabehart alleging that Ty Gibbs was not held to the same standards as other JGR team members, including things such as required meeting attendance.
“I also identified specific examples of the No. 54 team’s differential treatment that undermined my position as Competition Director. For example, key personnel decisions were made without my counsel or input despite my role as Competition Director; and critically the No. 54 driver was not held to the same meeting attendance standards as others on the team.” — Chris Gabehart
While Gibbs did not win races or make the playoffs with Gabehart on the pit box, one could wonder how the team fared during this stretch and whether or not Gabehart gave it his all in what he claims was a high-pressure situation.
What’s Happening? Former Joe Gibbs Racing Crew Chief and Competition Director Chris Gabehart has filed a new response slamming JGR as…
Though Gabehart was never officially listed as the Crew Chief of the No. 54 on NASCAR entry lists, given the timeline supplied in this filing, it’s easy to piece together what races Gabehart alleges he and Gibbs worked together.
Gabehart claims he started this role on June 28, 2025, which was race 18 of the 2025 season at EchoPark Speedway, and stayed in this spot for nine races, which would end his tenure with race 26 of the season at Daytona on August 23, 2025.
Entering that first race at EchoPark, through the first 17 races of 2025, the No. 54 team sat 23rd in points, with just two top fives, three top tens, and an average finish of 19.4.
In the alleged nine-race stretch with Gabehart atop the pit box, Gibbs scored two top-fives and four top tens, winning the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge and improving his average finish to 17.7 (14.3 during Gabehart’s nine races with Gibbs).
So, did Gibbs continue his improved form after Gabehart left his post as Crew Chief?
Well, the easy answer is no, as in the final ten races of the season, after Gabehart left, Gibbs would score just one more top five, three more top tens, and tally an average finish of 18.4.
Putting aside all the drama that has come from Gabehart’s time as JGR Competition Director and part-time Crew Chief for Ty Gibbs, it seems that Joe Gibbs was right to push for this pairing.
Nonetheless, with the alleged pressure for Gabehart to add this job to his list of duties at JGR, and his now well-known feelings about the No. 54 team, it seems this pairing was destined to split up from the start.
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