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…
Connor Zilisch’s full-time schedule with JR Motorsports in 2025 began a whirlwind of talk of what JRM may look like next season. The latest rumors are that Sam Mayer could be out at the four-car operation for 2025 and, in doing so, would leave the No.1 car open.
A new member of the 2025 NASCAR free agent market, Cup Series veteran Corey Lajoie could see consideration from JRM and its ties to Chevrolet.
Lajoie, whose father is a two-time series champion, has not started an Xfinity Series race in almost seven years. Having run full-time in the Cup Series since 2019, Lajoie has shown minimal results, and his longtime team, Spire Motorsports, has decided to move on from the 32-year-old.
Lajoie has maintained a quality relationship with Rick Hendrick, a co-owner of JRM, even starting a race in the No.9 car last season for a suspended Chase Elliott. While Lajoie has shown success at times, his on-track performance and age could limit him, as JRM already has two veteran drivers in this given scenario.
Rajah Caruth has made significant progress in the past three seasons. First, he made his Truck and Xfinity Series debut in 2022 and is now a winner in the Truck Series this spring. In this process, Caruth developed connections in high places.
Much like Lajoie, Caruth made friends with Rick Hendrick, who gave Caruth a break in the Xfinity Series in last Season’s Finale at Phoenix. Caruth and Hendrick extended that relationship into the truck series this season.
Hendrick initially sponsored 10 Truck Series entries for Caruth and Spire Motorsports, with sponsor Hendrickcars.com. After quality runs by Caruth, Hendrick extended the deal to last through the season.
While Caruth is making good runs in the Truck Series this season and currently sits fifth in points, sponsorship could be an issue in his ascension to the next level.
Even so, if Hendrick wanted to support Caruth in the Xfinity Series, it might be practical to assume that Henrick would instead run Rajah as a Hendrick Motorsports entry.
Since moving to Chevrolet from Toyota in 2023, Christian Eckes has looked like an entirely different racer these past two seasons for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.
Eckes has won seven races for the No. 19, and the former ARCA Menards Series Champion is the current Truck Series points leader.
While he has never raced in the Xfinity Series, it’s to be assumed that his day is coming soon. With an open door in the Chevrolet camp, he would be a solid bet for consistent runs in a top-caliber car.
Sponsorship could be problematic for Eckes, who has benefitted from McAnally’s longtime relationship with NAPA on the hood of his Silverados.
But having proven himself to be a top talent in the Truck Series, Eckes might be in the series soon, whether with JR Motorsports or not.
A surprise Xfinity Series performance this season comes from second-generation star and two-time CARS Tour Champion Carson Kvapil.
Kvapil, son of former Cup Series driver Travis Kvapil, races full-time for JR Motorsports racing Late Models in the CARS Tour. Much like former JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry.
Berry took late model success with JR Motorsports to a “prove it” part-time Xfinity Series schedule that turned into a full-time ride in the series. Signing to drive in the Cup Series for Stewart-Haas Racing for this season, Berry is an example of the path Kvapil could take.
Kvapil has already taken on the part-time Xfinity Series Schedule; this season, his debut season, he has three top-fives in six starts in the No. 88 for JRM. He has also continued to win in the CARS Tour for the JRM.
The problem that kept Berry from moving forward was sponsorship. He lacked consistent sponsorship until Tire Pros stepped up to help him. If Kvapil could find help, it may be hard for Earnhardt to say no.
More so, with three more races on his 2024 Xfinity calendar, Kvapil could force Earnhardt’s hand with continued quality performances.
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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.”
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