Denny Hamlin addresses ‘disappointing’ Joe Gibbs Racing vs. Chris Gabehart lawsuit: ‘I think they’re pretty serious’

The escalating legal battle between Joe Gibbs Racing and former competition director Chris Gabehart has sent ripples throughout the NASCAR garage. Denny Hamlin is taking it on the chin, admitting it’s tough to watch from the inside.

On the latest episode of Actions Detrimental, Hamlin addressed the lawsuit filed by JGR alleging his former crew chief attempted to take confidential team information to Spire Motorsports, which recently hired him as Chief Motorsports Officer.

“It’s disappointing to read,” Hamlin said. “My offseason was very taken up by a lot of things. I was not aware of all the things that were kind of going on behind the scenes. I really can only speak from a 23XI standpoint of like, why is the information so protected?”

Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing while still driving for JGR, explained why proprietary information is treated as sacred in today’s spec-car era: “No one person owns any information,” Hamlin added. “If it’s a setup or what have you, I collaborated on that. 

“The engineers put time into developing that. The aero department. There’s so many departments that contribute to whatever that piece of paper says that the car is running that weekend. No one person owns that or has the right to take it anywhere. That’s someone else’s work.”

The lawsuit, reported by The Athletic, seeks more than $8 million in damages and an injunction to prevent any alleged use of proprietary data. Gabehart has forcefully denied the accusations, stating that a third-party forensic review of his devices found no evidence of wrongdoing.

For Hamlin, the issue goes beyond personalities: “We race a spec-car now,” he said. “Do you know how much faster we could possibly be if we had all of Hendrick’s information? Theirs and ours? You just can’t let that happen, which is why the teams are so very protective over their information.”

Additionally, Hamlin acknowledged the personal side of the dispute: “It’s awfully disappointing to see two people that you’ve cared for at odds right now,” he said. “But Joe Gibbs Racing is willing to go to court. I think they’re pretty serious. I’ll say that. Joe ain’t looking to fight anyone. So, it’s tough.”

With Spire moving forward publicly with Gabehart’s hire and JGR digging in legally, the next phase of competition may unfold in a courtroom, not on the racetrack. All while Hamlin tries to navigate winning the first championship of his Cup Series career.