Joe Gibbs Racing, in a lawsuit filed Thursday in the Western District of North Carolina, accused its former competition director, Chris Gabehart, of sharing confidential information and trade secrets with a competing team.

The suit seeks damages of at least $8 million.

Gabehart put in 13 years at JGR, including a lengthy stint as Denny Hamlin’s crew chief and more recently as the director of competition. His base salary last year was $1 million before bonuses, per motorsport.com.

His departure was announced late last year, with JGR accusing Gabehart of scheming to use its information to aid Spire Motorsports, which was offering him the job of chief motorsports officer.

According to motorsport.com, a JGR investigation found that Gabehart set up a folder on his computer, shared to his personal cloud storage, that listed team details including salaries and performance reviews of drivers, crew chiefs and pit crews.

JGR alleges that Gabehart looked at those files in the midst of finalizing his departure from the team on the same day he had a meeting with Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson.

According to the lawsuit, “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.”

The suit states that Gabehart met with JGR owner Joe Gibbs on Nov. 6, with the former NFL coach refusing to “give Defendant carte blanche authority over all racing decisions.”

The sides subsequently began discussing separation terms, with JGR maintaining, “Under those terms, Defendant would have been permitted to work for another NASCAR team, provided that he agreed not to solicit key employees and contractors and that he cooperated in returning JGR equipment and information.”

However, JGR alleges that Gabehart, “using his personal cell phone, took at least twenty photos of his laptop screen” that contained confidential information, adding, “Defendant accessed and interacted with the Spire Folder on November 12, 13, 15, 23, 25, 26, 27, and December 2 of 2025 — the same day he met with Jeff Dickerson.”

–Field Level Media

Jalen Johnson recorded 32 points, 10 rebounds and five assists as the Atlanta Hawks posted a 117-107 road win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday.

In both teams’ first game following the All-Star break, Atlanta snapped a three-game skid despite 43.2% shooting from the field and a 10-of-32 showing (31.2%) from 3-point range.

CJ McCollum chipped in with 23 points off the bench for the Hawks, while Dyson Daniels (15 points) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (14) also made key contributions.

Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points on 8-of-23 shooting for the Sixers, while VJ Edgecombe contributed 20 points and nine rebounds. Andre Drummond notched 10 points and 14 rebounds for the hosts, who shot just 38.4% from the floor and 11 of 33 (33.3%) from long range.

Philadelphia, which played without Joel Embiid (knee) and Paul George (suspension), fell to 0-3 against Atlanta this season. The Sixers have dropped three straight games overall.

The Hawks led by four with less than nine minutes remaining before Onyeka Okongwu’s tip-in and Daniels’ layup pushed the advantage to 99-91. Shortly thereafter, Alexander-Walker’s 3-pointer made it an 11-point game, and then Zaccharie Risacher’s putback dunk made it 108-94 with 5:12 left.

The Sixers quickly answered with 10 straight points. Kelly Oubre Jr. (17 points) had the final four in that stretch with a fastbreak dunk and two free throws.

Philadelphia got no closer than four points, however. Johnson made a layup with 2:08 to play to restore a six-point margin, and he added three free throws down the stretch.

Both teams shot well under 40% from the field as Atlanta led 28-26 after one quarter.

Neither team led by more than three points in the second quarter until the Hawks created a bit of breathing room late in the session. Daniels’ bucket made it 60-50 with just over a minute left before Maxey’s 3-pointer pulled the Sixers within seven at the break.

The Hawks led 73-62 early in the third quarter, but the Sixers countered with eight straight points — the first six by Maxey — to get within three with 6:31 remaining in the period. Atlanta went on to lead 88-84 after three quarters.

–Field Level Media

One of the last teams in the country to suffer its first loss, No. 9 Nebraska will try to get back to its winning ways when it hosts last-place Penn State in a Big Ten Conference game on Saturday afternoon in Lincoln, Neb.

Since starting 20-0, the Cornhuskers (22-4, 11-4) have dropped four of six to fall into a three-way tie for third place in the Big Ten.

The Huskers’ latest loss was a 57-52 setback Tuesday night at Iowa, which saw Nebraska post its lowest point total of the season – close to 27 points shy of the Huskers’ season average.

“We can’t hang our heads, we can’t sulk after this one,” said Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg, who had a brief altercation in the postgame handshake line when one of the Iowa students storming the court approached him. “We’ve got to find a way to regroup.”

Penn State (11-16, 2-14) lost by 85-72 Wednesday at home to Rutgers, its eighth double-digit loss in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions also have pushed some of the league’s best, including a two-point home loss to No. 1 Michigan on Jan. 6, but slow starts have gotten in their way all season.

“If I knew it, we would keep fixing it and keep addressing it,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said. “Some of it is matchups. Some of it is turnovers. I really think the games where we got off to a good start and were in position to play better … is when we took care of the ball.”

Penn State turns the ball over 10 times per game in Big Ten play — which ranks in the middle of the pack — but Nebraska forces 13 turnovers per game.

Nebraska, on the other hand, struggles against physical teams. The Huskers’ inability to rebound well has been a big part of their recent struggles. Four of Nebraska’s six worst offensive rebounding games have come in losses, which leads to worse showings on the defensive end.

“We were better in the last game (against Northwestern), but in two of the last three (before that) we weren’t good,” Hoiberg said.

Nebraska junior Pryce Sandfort, who was among seven Big Ten players named to the national Naismith Trophy Late-Season Team, already has set the school’s single-season record for 3-pointers with 90. He’s shooting exactly 40% from the perimeter and the Cornhuskers as a team are shooting 35.6%, but they were just 5 of 24 at Iowa.

Penn State ranks next-to-last in league play in 3-point shooting (29.5%) and last in 3-point defense (41.2%). The Nittany Lions surrender a league-high 10.5 3-pointers per game to Big Ten foes.

The Nittany Lions missed the Big Ten Tournament last season when only 15 of 18 teams were invited. This season the entire membership will play in Chicago, but finishing in the bottom four during the regular season means needing to win six games in six days to get the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

For Nebraska, finishing in the top four would give it a bye until the quarterfinals and leave it needing only three wins to claim the title. The Cornhuskers are a lock to make the NCAA field for the second time in three seasons, but their potential seed has dipped.

Nebraska is the only power-conference school that has yet to win an NCAA Tournament game.

–Field Level Media