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…
We have reached the weekend of one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events, the Coca-Cola 600. While it is a race, it is first a tribute to service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice. There really is no event like it in the sport.
In the 63 years of the prestigious race, there have been some incredible moments. Here are the five best Coca-Cola 600 races.
The 1993 Coca-Cola 600 was historic for many reasons. It was the first Coca-Cola 600 to be held in the now traditional late afternoon into sundown into night. It was also the day of Dale Earnhardt’s most memorable comeback.
Earnhardt seemed to have the car to beat by leading 113 of the first 220 laps of the race. However, Earnhardt was caught speeding on pit road during a green flag pit cycle and held for 15 seconds. On lap 225, Rusty Wallace spun out to bring out the caution flag leaving Earnhardt one lap down.
Earnhardt would make up the one lap to work his way up to second by lap 328, far behind Dale Jarrett the new leader. Earnhardt would bring out a caution by spinning out the lapped car of Greg Sacks on lap 328. NASCAR determined that the wreck was intentional, and they held Earnhardt for another lap virtually taking him out of contention.
Earnhardt was still not done yet as he got his lap back on the ensuing restart and caught a quick caution on lap 351 for Wallace spinning out again. With few cars on the lead lap, Earnhardt took the lead back from Ernie Irvan on lap 362 and would go on to win by 3.7 seconds over Jeff Gordon.
The 2011 Coca-Cola 600 was a classic NASCAR endurance race. Comers and goers, attrition, and fuel mileage played a part in the final outcome.
Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne were battling for the lead in the closing laps with fuel mileage on everyone’s mind when Jimmie Johnson blew an engine with five laps to go setting up an overtime finish. Biffle was forced to pit under the caution flag leaving Kahne on the front row with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was then on a career long 104 race winless streak.
On the restart, Kahne ran out of gas giving Earnhardt Jr. the lead. On the final lap, Earnhardt Jr held a solid lead over Denny Hamlin, when Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas in turns three and four. Hamlin ran out of gas as well opening up the door for third place runner Kevin Harvick.
“The closer”, Kevin Harvick would take home the win after leading only his second lap of the day. This is not the only time that fuel mileage came into play during the Coca-Cola 600.
The first Coca-Cola 600 for the next-gen cars did not disappoint. Another race with comers and goers and attrition thanks to 18 caution flags. It even featured a flip with Chris Buescher thankfully walking from his lap 347 crash.
The race came down to the final laps with Kyle Larson battling Chase Briscoe for the lead with two laps to go. Briscoe dove underneath Kyle Larson before Briscoe spun out bringing out the caution for the 17th time. On the ensuing restart, Austin Dillon, Ross Chastain, and Denny Hamlin thought it was a good idea to go four-wide for the win off of turn four.
It went about as one would expect as a seven car crash sent the race to a second overtime. It was a battle between teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin with Hamlin just getting the better of Busch in turn two on the last lap. Hamlin would win the five hour, 13 minute, marathon.
Another classic Coca-Cola 600 saw the driver who led the most laps out by lap 300, and possibly the strangest top five in the races history. The race featured 13 caution flags, and came down to, you guessed it, fuel mileage.
Tony Stewart appeared to have the dominant car late in the race, but multiple mid-pack cars elected to gamble on fuel mileage. In the final 10 laps, big name drivers began pitting, with Stewart finally pitting with seven laps to go handing the lead to Denny Hamlin before he pitted giving Casey Mears the lead. .
Mears would tip-toe around the track to win the race by 9.5 seconds over this top five, and yes, this is the actual top five. J.J. Yeley finished second, Kyle Petty third, Reed Sorenson fourth and Brian Vickers fifth, with Ricky Rudd finishing seventh as well for his final career top 10.
Thanks to a bizarre racing surface at what was then known as Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the 2005 Coca-Cola 600 was the ultimate race of attrition. The race had a Cup Series record 22 caution flags for 103 laps (More than a quarter of the race).
The five hour, 13 minute affair came down to a five lap shootout between two future Hall of Famers in Jimmie Johnson and Bobby Labonte. In the final corner of the last lap, Johnson moved to the outside of Labonte to nose ahead of Labonte by half a car length.
This was Johnson’s third consecutive Coca-Cola 600 victory, and his fourth of five consecutive victories at the track. No one dominated Charlotte at that time quite like Jimmie Johnson.
Could this weekend’s race add to this list? We shall see, and with the next-gen cars intermediate product, this race should be fun to watch.
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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The legal fight between Joe Gibbs Racing and former competition director Chris Gabehart just escalated, and now it’s not just about data. In his official response, Gabehart pushed back hard against the restraining order request… and made serious claims about dysfunction surrounding the No. 54 team and its driver, Ty Gibbs.
In his filing, Gabehart denies sharing any trade secrets and says forensic reviews back that up. But the bombshell allegations focus on internal structure, claiming the 54 car was managed directly by ownership and not held to the same standards as other teams. Those comments pull back the curtain on tensions many fans only speculated about, especially after last season’s on-track friction involving teammates like Denny Hamlin. If this heads toward trial, more details could surface. If it settles, we may never get the full picture. Either way, the public back-and-forth has already shifted perception, and how this plays out could impact not just one team, but how authority, accountability, and information are handled across the garage.
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