Denny Hamlin has confirmed that the ongoing legal battle between Joe Gibbs Racing and former competition director Chris Gabehart hits him on a personal level.
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When asked if he feels betrayed by Gabehart, his former crew chief, he nodded multiple times before ending his media session.
The question followed a direct tweet from Hamlin earlier in the week, which he later called a knee-jerk reaction. The Athletic's Jeff Gluck interviewed Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson, the co-defendant in Joe Gibbs Racing's lawsuit, who said that Joe Gibbs Racing was out to hurt his team among other things.
"Yeah, okay buddy," Hamlin wrote in response. "You hired someone who stole tens of millions worth of information, lied about communications y'all had after you deleted them and now is getting paid double to work on your truck program? GTFO."
JGR sued Gabehart earlier this year, saying that he had stolen confidential information and trade secrets. A forensic analysis revealed that Gabehart had accessed team secrets and put them in a Google Drive folder called, "Spire." He also took cell phone photos of his screen.
Gabehart returned the information while Spire Motorsports maintained that it never sought or wanted anything from JGR. The team pointed to its alliance with Hendrick Motorsports as a reason. The Court issued a preliminary injunction against Gabehart, allowing him to remain at Spire Motorsports but preventing him from working as a competition director.
Yeah, okay buddy. You hired someone who stole tens of millions worth of information, lied about communications y’all had after you deleted them and now is getting paid double to work on your truck program? GTFO.
What was it you called Richard again?
Was it you who was leaking…— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) May 1, 2026
"Well, it was, first, it was a knee jerk reaction first, but it doesn't mean I don't feel that way," Hamlin said about his post on X. "It was a little bit knee-jerk, and (I) certainly feel like I know enough of the facts to at least assert something.
"I know that JGR has not ever gone after anyone, I can tell you that. They don't care who else is running good or whatever. They just invest so much into the sport in terms of technology, and Toyota as well, that they have to protect that.
"Otherwise, it's an arms race. If we didn't protect very important key employees with non-competes and things like that, it would be an arms race. I would just go to someone at Hendrick (Motorsports), maybe Chad Knaus, and say 'Okay, I'll give you $10 million a year. Bring everything with you.'"
Obviously, Hamlin is very protective of Joe Gibbs Racing. The team has been like family to him for decades. They have endured tragedy together while continuing to compete for championships on the track.
Gabehart's relationship with Hamlin was a part of the success. The two spent six seasons together before Gabehart became the competition director. They celebrated 22 wins, and they finished top 10 in 120 of 209 races. They won two Daytona 500s and one Southern 500.
"Some of the things that have already been agreed that was taken is stuff that I put hours and days and weeks and years into," Hamlin said. "Like, I just couldn't fathom giving that to someone else for free.
"So, that's where, to me, it just strikes hard because when you see setups and stuff, it's like, I know I was a piece of that puzzle, not the whole puzzle, but there was a lot of people that contributed to that, that deserved to have that information to themselves."
