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…
With the Coke Zero Sugar 400 just a few days away, the opportunity for a first-time winner is higher than ever before. Currently, 10 full-time Cup Series drivers have not gone to victory lane at the highest level of stock car racing. Superspeedway racing always gives the best chance for a first-time winner, and with no one collecting their first win so far this year, could Daytona see the first? Let’s go through the drivers and rank them off of who’s most likely to get their first career win.
Daniel Hemric is in his second full-time season in Cup and first since 2019. The 2022 Xfinity Series champion has not had the return he was hoping for with Kaulig Racing. He is currently 30th in the standings with only 14 laps led. What places Hemric last on this list is he has not shown the ability to be up front late in a plate race, and hasn’t had any flashes throughout the season, which other drivers have. His future is unclear and of the 11 winless drivers in Cup, he’s the most likely to stay winless.
Harrison Burton has not panned out at the Cup level. Every season has worsened since he joined the Wood Brothers in 2022. These poor performances ultimately resulted in him losing his ride to Josh Berry for 2024, and with no clear plans for next season, Burton’s future is uncertain. He has shown some flashes at times, particularly at Darlington, where he runs inside the top 10 and has led laps at superspeedways, but it’s not enough to consider him a genuine contender for a race win.
Like Hemric, John Hunter Nemecheck is in his second full-time season and first after a long hiatus. His return has seen flashes early, but disappointment overall throughout the year. To his defense, Legacy Motor Club is still figuring out their new alliance with Toyota, and the results will probably be vacant until at least next year. But besides a few flashes, JHN has struggled to finish races, with five DNF’s on the year. He’s proven he can win in the lower series, but he needs the car to compete and to clean up the mistakes before he is a true race-win contender.
If one driver has seen their stock plummet since last year, it’s Corey LaJoie. After an impressive 2023 season, he’s followed it up with a disappointing 2024 campaign that has seen him outrun by his two rookie teammates and lose his ride for 2025. He was one lap away from victory in 2022 at Atlanta before contact with Chase Elliott sent him into the wall. He has experience compared to others on this list, and Spire is still waiting to be ready to compete for wins, but for LaJoie to one day win in Cup, he might need to go back to the lower series to prove he can win.
Zane Smith is in his first full-time Cup season. The 2022 Truck Series champion started the year terribly, with DNFs left, right, and center. Fast-forward to the summer stretch, and Smith has found his groove in Cup, with two top-10s, including a second-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway. Spire is probably a year or two away from being a true contender for wins, but if Smith continues this trajectory, he’ll be in the mix.
Ryan Preece has not had the Cup career he was hoping for. Throughout his two years at Stewart-Haas Racing, he has been the worst driver every season. Besides one race at Martinsville in 2023, where he won the pole, led the most laps, and won the first stage, he has struggled to find consistency and the pace to compete at the front. What puts him over Smith is that 2023 Martinsville race. If given the right car, he has shown he can compete up front.
If this list was made early in the season, Noah Gragson would be higher on the list. He was consistently inside the top 10 and made the 10 car look the best its been since 2020. He’s cooled off during the summer but has greatly improved from his disastrous rookie year last season. He’s been rewarded with a seat at Ford’s newest “Tier One” team, Front Row Motorsports next season, meaning his window to win races is just opening up.
Josh Berry has improved as the season has gone on. He’s been in contention to win a few short track races this year, such as New Hampshire and Iowa Speedway. With Bristol and Martinsville left on the schedule, Berry will be in contention for the top 10, and if cards fall the right way, he could be in a position to grab his first career win.
Todd Gilliland has had a quiet breakout season in 2024. He has improved to become a consistent top-20 contender and Front Row Motorsports lead driver. While he has no top-fives, he has led 121 laps, second most among this list, with the with the majority coming at superspeedways. FRM has excelled at the drafting tracks, with Gilliland leading the charge. With Daytona, Atlanta, and Talladega all left on the schedule, it’s not out of the question to see the No. 38 in victory lane this season.
There was no doubt as to who would take the No. 1 spot. Among all winless Cup drivers, Ty Gibbs leads in every category. His 321 laps led are more than winners like Joey Logano, William Byron, and Chase Elliott. In addition, he’s in the best car to win a race out of anyone on this list. He’s struggled during the summer, but if the 54 were to go to victory lane this year, no one would be surprised. Gibbs is due for his first win, and it can come sooner rather than later, earning him the number one spot on this list.
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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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