Here’s What Happened in the JGR vs. Chris Gabehart/Spire Lawsuit This Week (Sept. 19-25)

In the words of former NASCAR Cup Series crew chief and longtime broadcaster Larry McReynolds, “Reach up and pull those belts tight.”

As per usual, there is no end in sight for the blows being traded in the lawsuit between Joe Gibbs Racing vs. Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports.

The case is nearing the end of the discovery phase, with both sides critically eying the production of documents it deems critical to swing the case in its favor.

JGR continues to assert Gabehart breached his separation agreement with the team by entertaining and eventually accepting an offer from Spire, violated his non-compete by working in a similar position to his former competition director role, and misappropriated JGR trade secrets to retain and transmit that information to Spire.

The championship-winning organization also claims Spire committed tortious interference by hiring Gabehart, inducing him to violate his agreement by performing similar duties. Both JGR and Spire have been seeking further data surrounding setups and processes in relation to the trade secrets in question.

A trial date is set for Feb. 1, 2027, in the Western District of North Carolina with Judge Susan C. Rodriguez presiding over the case.

The following occurrence of recent events is a continuation of filings made last week.

Read all of Frontstretch’s content covering the JGR vs. Gabehart lawsuit here

• JGR filed a memorandum in support of a motion for sanctions against Gabehart. The memorandum gave detailed insight into the timeline of events from Gabehart’s departure to his alleged deletion of evidence through texts and other materials.

• JGR said a phone log showed that Gabehart and Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson had conducted 18 phone calls between Oct. 7, 2025 and Nov. 14. They also met for dinner on Oct. 16.

• Gabehart also visited Spire’s website from his JGR computer on several occasions throughout both October and November, including on race days.

• JGR revealed that forensic evidence unearthed two phone notes from Gabehart’s device titled “Spire” and “Spire offer” that were created on Nov. 11. Gabehart previously stated he received an unsolicited offer from Spire on Nov. 13. According to JGR, Gabehart was seeking employment at Spire as early as Oct. 3.

• One of the turning points in Gabehart’s standing at JGR was a meeting between he and Joe Gibbs on Nov. 6 in which JGR claims he requested increased authority in his role as competition director. Gibbs refused, leading Gabehart and the team to eventually part ways.

• According to the filing, Gabehart called Dickerson immediately after the meeting with Gibbs, then proceeded to take roughly 20 photos of JGR’s confidential information the next morning.

• In recollection of Gabehart’s offer from Spire, JGR noted that he had a 33-minute calling with Dickerson on Nov. 12, two days after he and JGR met to negotiate his departure. After reportedly receiving the offer on Nov. 13, Gabehart and Dickerson spoke for 14 minutes that day and then 27 minutes the next day.

• On Nov. 15, Gabehart deleted his entire text conversation with Dickerson, later stating, “[T]he truth of the matter is, I was an individual in a high-pressure situation and I panicked and I deleted the text.” He also said he was “offended” to have received the offer, and that he had not deleted anything else that day.

• JGR also averred that the separation was incomplete when Gabehart deleted the texts. Despite forensic imaging, extraction of clouds and carrier backups and a content request submitted to Verizon, JGR was unable to recover any of these texts.

• JGR stated it first learned of activity coming from Gabehart’s synced accounts and laptop on Dec. 8, eventually leading to it sending him a cease and desist letter to have him return and remove any of its confidential information.

• “Gabehart contends this was the first formal notice that ‘there was an issue’ regarding his departure, which stands in contrast with his November 18 texts with Dickerson that there were ‘rumors’ circulating about him joining Spire and his failure to negotiate a reduction of the 18-month non-compete in his JGR agreement,” the filing stated.

• JGR also identified the two phone notes concerning Spire were deleted while others were left untouched, though Gabehart failed to recall those deletions.

• In January 2026, Gabehart reportedly deleted a note titled “Matt” after his JGR device was returned. JGR found the note to contain an agenda for a previous meeting between he and Matt McCall, Spire’s competition director.

• As a result, JGR asked the court to grant an adverse-inference instruction that finds that Gabehart deliberately deprived JGR of communications that were damaging to him, thus causing harm to JGR’s discovery.