- NASCAR fans speculate about a potential Kyle Busch and Chris Gabehart pairing.
- Kyle Busch is in a slump and has reached a winless drought of 104 races.
- Gabehart is stuck in the lawsuit filed against him by JGR.
On Friday night at Texas, Spire Motorsports locked in a 1-2 finish, with Carson Hocevar taking the win and Kyle Busch following in second. After the race, Busch was seen in conversation with Spire Motorsports’ Chief Motorsports Officer, Chris Gabehart, and the moment quickly set off hypotheses among fans.
Kyle Busch is going through a win drought that has now stretched to 104 races, while Chris Gabehart remains entangled in a lawsuit filed by Joe Gibbs Racing. Both find themselves under pressure, both with something to prove, and fans wasted no time building narratives around what a pairing between them could mean.
Kyle Busch + Chris Gabehart rumor heats up as fans link them to slump fix.
Gabehart’s presence at the track came amid a legal dispute with his former team, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), which filed a lawsuit and sought a restraining order to block his move to Spire. A federal judge later ruled that Gabehart can continue working with Spire and attend race weekends, as long as he does not carry out duties identical to his former role as JGR’s competition director.
At the same time, Busch’s drought has reached three years, and tensions have been added to the situation after comments from Denny Hamlin, which prompted Busch to respond that he would make Hamlin’s life difficult on track, though that requires running at the front first.
After the Texas Truck race, Busch was seen briefly speaking with Gabehart and told him, “Made something outta nothing,” referring to his race that began from P6, dropped to P31 at the end of Stage 1, climbed back to P16 by the end of Stage 2, and finished in second place.
Busch to Spire?
That exchange was enough for fans to start connecting dots, imagining what could happen if the two were ever to come together in the same camp.
Speculation has also grown around Busch’s contract year with RCR, with talk that Spire could become a landing spot after the season. Gabehart, meanwhile, remains tied up in legal proceedings and is expected to wait for a resolution before any long-term direction is settled.
Still, fans point to what each brings to the table. Gabehart’s record with Denny Hamlin is a big deal, as he served as crew chief for the No. 11 JGR team from 2019 to 2024. During that span, the duo collected 22 points-paying wins and reached the Championship 4 three times.
From that lens, the idea taking hold among fans is that if Busch gets competitive equipment and a crew chief with Gabehart’s background, the results could follow in volume over the coming seasons.
Fan reactions Busch–Gabehart possibility
One fan clearly said, “Let Chris crew chief Kyle in Cup at Spire and he will be a champion again.”
Another commented, “I like McDowell, but man we need Kyle in the 71 next year.”
A third fan wrote, “New crew chief next year?”
One fan elaborated on that thought, saying, “Hypothetically speaking, we would definitively know if KB has still got it if he is in a spire car with Gabehart on the box next year. There would be no more excuses.”
Another confidently said, “Kyle has to be going to Spire man, it just makes sense.”
