Bicycle Mechanics - headset problems?

I recently shipped my bike across the country and upon getting it ready to ride, I noticed a gap between the crown race and the headtube. Maybe it was always there and in my negligence I just didn't notice (at first when I heard noise from my headset which is what made me examine it - I later retightened the bolts and the sound was gone). Just wanted to know if this is as it should be.

Lastly, I noticed theres a spacer above my headset which doesnt even come into contact with the steerer tube (the stem fits flush on the tube) It's a mystery why my lbs would have put it there unless my headset is indeed improperly adjusted.

Anyways thanks for any help.

First, that's not your crown race. The crown race is at the base of the steerer tube on the fork. The part you took a picture of is your upper bearing cap (my name for it at least) and because it rotates with the fork, it must have a gap between it and the frame. No problem there.

Second, the top spacer is there because your LBS cut your fork too long. In order to not need a spacer on top of the stem, the fork needs to be cut at least 2mm below the top of the stem and sometimes more. With a carbon fiber fork, it is sometimes preferred by installers to not cut the steerer below the top of the stem, as with your bike, so that the stem is fully clamping on the tube. This is assumed to reduce the likelihood of crushing the tube.

wow. that was exactly what i needed.
you sir are awesome.
thanks very much.

You have a lot of spacers under the stem, so you simply have a fork steerer cut to accommodate various combinations of spacers either below or above the stem to give you adjustability and/or movement of the fork to another frame/headset combo. Nothing wrong with it. You do need to have a few mm below the stem/spacer to top of steerer tube with threadless headsets to accommodate the top cap and preload; flush doesn't work (with or without spacers) accordingly. Don't see any extra gap myself.