Circle Tracks

Conventional wisdom usually dictates waiting until after the Coca-Cola 600 to make any wide-sweeping declarations about the NASCAR Cup Series season but the sample size is becoming prescient. After 11 races, the dice have been largely cast, and a hierarchy has been established with 15 races remaining until the new-look Chase for the Championship. Remember, when NASCAR simulated thousands of ...Keep readingView the full article

Monday marks the one-year mark since Kyle Larson last won a NASCAR Cup Series race, a triumph that came on May 11, 2025 at Kansas Speedway, and the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 team is still working through things early this season too. Larson finds himself eighth in the championship standings, needing to be within the top-5 by the end of the regular season to be a bonafide championship ...Keep readingView the full article

JR Motorsports has announced Jake Finch as the driver of the team's No. 9 Chevrolet for five races, later this year.  Finch, who turns 21 later this year, will make his first appearance at Atlanta on July 11. He will also run races at Darlington on September 5, Bristol on September 18, Charlotte on October 10, and Talladega on October 24. He made his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series ...Keep readingView the full article

In 2013, James Hinchcliffe earned his firs of six IndyCar wins at the St. Petersburg street course. 13 years later, he will be racing again at the site of that first triumph, but in a very difficult kind of race car -- or truck. Hinchcliffe will pilot the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports in the first-ever NCTS race at St. Pete on February, as part of IndyCar's opening weekend ...Keep readingView the full article

When James Hinchcliffe decided to enter the St. Petersburg NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, he likely didn't imagine it going the way that it ultimately did. Driving the #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet with the name 'Jimmy Hinch' above the driver's door, the Canadian racer planned to take part in his first ever NASCAR race. After starting third with minimal practice due to rain cancelling ...Keep readingView the full article

In a legal filing posted late on Wednesday night, Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson detailed his long personal relationship with Chris Gabehart and expressed deep disappointment in the lawsuit filed against them by Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to team ownership, Dickerson served as an ex-grassroots racer, sports agent and spotter, whom eventually co-founded the Spire Sports+Entertainment ...Keep readingView the full article

In an unexpected triumph, Jesse Love bested Connor Zilisch to win the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.  Love passed Zilisch for the lead with 24 laps to go, and never looked back. This is Love's third career win, and his first ever on a non-superspeedway track. In the closing laps, Aric Almirola passed Zilisch for second, securing the owner's championship for Joe Gibbs Racing and the ...Keep readingView the full article

It's not uncommon for teammates to cross one another on the race track, and that's exactly what happened during last weekend's NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Kansas Speedway. Reigning series champion Jesse Love put RCR teammate Hill in a bad aero spot, and the No. 21 spun around, crashing out of the race less than 40 laps into the event. Love went on to finish fourth. Hill was ...Keep readingView the full article

Defending NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love was taking part in the Chili Bowl Nationals this past week, and he was impressive in a car prepared by Hendrick Motorsports Cup Series crew chief Blake Harris. On Friday night, he started 17th and drove all the way  up to fourth at one point. After passing 10+ cars, he ultimately finished sixth in the A-Main prelim. However ...Keep readingView the full article

At the beginning of December, it was reported that Chris Gabehart had left Joe Gibbs Racing in a surprising exit. He worked at JGR for 13 years, and won 22 Cup races as a crew chief for Denny Hamlin between 2019 and 2024. Most recently, he worked as the Director of Competition for the elite organization.  Since his departure, there has been no word regarding why Gabehart left, or where he ...Keep readingView the full article

Following a report from the Sports Business Journal, NASCAR boss Jim France is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) but will remain as the Chairman and majority owner of NASCAR. France, who turns 82 later this year, took over the position from nephew Brian France in 2018 following his arrest on suspicion of DUI in Sag Harbor, New York.  Steve O'Donnell, who was the president of ...Keep readingView the full article

On the weekend of June 19-21, NASCAR's three national divisions will compete at a brand new course at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego -- the first-ever NASCAR event to be run on an active military base. That historic event will include an entry by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and California native Jimmie Johnson. The co-owner at Legacy Motor Club will drive the No. 84 Toyota Camry ...Keep readingView the full article

Johnson, who won all of his Cup titles with Hendrick Motorsports, has focused on IndyCar racing and selected outings in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in the past two years since bringing his NASCAR career to a close in 2020. The 47-year-old announced in September that he would step back from full-time racing next year and would not return to IndyCar with Chip Ganassi Racing.  He has now ...Keep readingView the full article

Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will drive the No. 1 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage when NASCAR heads to Naval Base Coronado for a unique street race in San Diego, California.  Johnson, a California native, will also be attempting doubly duty that weekend as he plans to run the NASCAR Cup Series race as well. Carvana will sponsor both efforts. While Johnson has over 700 ...Keep readingView the full article

Taking advantage of the Open Exemption Provisional, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson will have a guaranteed spot in the 68th running of the Daytona 500. The Open Exemption Provisional, which was created one year ago, can be utilized by a non-chartered team with a world-class driver to ensure them spot on the grid for any race where the field eclipses the maximum number of ...Keep readingView the full article

In a Wednesday night legal filing, Joe Gibbs Racing says Chris Gabehart was not able to entirely comply with the expedited discovery order issued by the Western District of North Carolina due to text messages he deleted prior to the lawsuit brought against him. Additionally, JGR believes it has been able to construct a narrative that shows its former competition director ‘immediately ...Keep readingView the full article

Chris Gabehart attended the NASCAR event over the weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway and Joe Gibbs Racing is adamant that he violated a temporary restraining order in the process. Gabehart is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Joe Gibbs Racing in which the latter has alleged the former violated the non-compete provisions of their previous work agreement. JGR also says Gabehart participated in ...Keep readingView the full article

In support of the (below) argument in support of expedited fact discovery against Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports team owners Dan Towriss and Jeff Dickerson, Joe Gibbs Racing filed legal documents that revealed their hiring of a private investigator that followed them defendants after the Cup Series season had ended. Additionally, JGR filed exhibits in the form of declarations from team ...Keep readingView the full article

Prior to the weekend, Joe Gibbs Racing notified both Spire Motorsports and Chris Gabehart that it intended to amend and refile its lawsuit against them both. As a result, their intended responses to the lawsuit due on Monday is no longer necessary. The below in italics is taken from the notice to the Western District of North Carolina.   “Defendants requested JGR provide a copy of the ...Keep readingView the full article

Joe Gibbs Racing has amended its lawsuit against Chris Gabehart and has now extended those claims against Spire Motorsports while also asking the Western District of North Carolina to enforce a restraining order to prevent the pairing from continue working together. Spire Motorsports confirmed over the weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway that it has hired Gabehart, a longtime engineer turned crew ...Keep readingView the full article

“There is no innocent explanation for secretly accessing, reviewing, and selectively deleting an employer's confidential files after your employment has ended and you are negotiating with a direct competitor. Gabehart's belief that he was acting in secret is itself powerful evidence of wrongful intent.” This is part of the basis in which Joe Gibbs Racing believes the Western District of ...Keep readingView the full article

Joe Gibbs Racing wants the Western District of North Carolina Court to compel Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports to immediately produce any documents related to deleted text messages to each other but also a third-party subpoena to get those deleted communications from the cell phone service providers. “The nature and significance of the irreparable harm JGR is experiencing cannot be ...Keep readingView the full article

Until November 10, 2025, Defendant served as one of JGR’s most senior leaders with respect to all competitive aspects of the business. After his demands for additional authority were rebuffed by JGR’s owner, Defendant immediately embarked on a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information and use it for the benefit of a direct competitor in NASCAR—Spire Motorsports. In this ...Keep readingView the full article

Joe Gibbs Racing is asking the Western District of North Carolina and the Judge (Susan C. Rodriguez) overseeing the case to allow an amended refiling of its lawsuit against Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports. This second proposed amended lawsuit now claims that the success Spire has obtained this season in the NASCAR Cup Series is a result of hiring Gabehart as ‘Chief Motorsports ...Keep readingView the full article

Chris Gabehart, Spire Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing contested their first day in court on Friday afternoon in the Western District of North Carolina where oral arguments over a restraining order were heard but not ruled upon. JGR is seeking a temporary restraining order against Gabehart, its former competition director who recently took the Chief Motorsports Officer job at Spire, amidst a ...Keep readingView the full article