Lawsuit: JGR Ties Spire’s “Sudden Improvement” to Stolen Data

What’s Happening?

In their latest move in court, Joe Gibbs Racing has linked a sudden upswing in performance at Spire Motorsports to the team’s hiring of long-time JGR employee Chris Gabehart, whom they claim stole confidential information and trade secrets from the team.

Last week, Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson went viral for comments made on Jeff Gluck’s Gluckcast podcast.

This rant stemmed from a question about the team’s ongoing lawsuit with Joe Gibbs Racing, which includes former JGR Competition Director turned Spire Motorsports Chief Motorsports Officer, Chris Gabehart.

JGR says that Gabehart left the team with “confidential information and trade secrets” taken from their servers. They are now trying to prove that Spire is using this info to help them on track.

In his response to Gluck, Dickerson took issue with what he sees as JGR undermining Spire’s competitive growth by suggesting the alleged information taken from JGR by Gabehart is the sole reason why Spire has seen such success in 2026.

“They filed something after the win, and essentially, it was linking it back to Chris [Gabehart],” Dickerson said. “And I’ll tell you what upsets me, is that not only is Chris not in that role, but they’re minimizing what happens here. They’re minimizing the 175 people here. Like, we couldn’t win without them, right? And I don’t even just mean without Chris, they’re implying we can’t win without JGR data.”

Now JGR has seemingly doubled down on this Tuesday afternoon, asking the court if they can file a new amended complaint, a revision of the lawsuit, that hones in on the competitiveness of Spire this season, given their recent hiring of Gabehart, among other claims.

“This sudden improvement in Spire’s Cup Series performance of course comes on the heels of Gabehart misappropriating JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets and providing Spire the same or similar services he provided JGR in the last year.”

The filing also turns attention back to Gabehart’s new title of Chief Motorsports Officer, calling it a “deceptive cover for Gabehart to violate his restrictive covenant in a way that is difficult to detect.“

The “restrictive covenant” refers to a non-compete clause in Gabehart’s 2025 JGR contract that says he cannot perform the same duties he did for JGR for the next 18 months after leaving the team.

JGR has repeatedly attempted to prove that Gabehart is performing duties similar to those of a Competition Director, even going so far as to have employees photograph him at tracks.

The court still does not find this sufficient proof and maintains that Gabehart is not acting in that role.

Spire’s Growth in 2026

While this has been an ongoing battle between the two, it cannot be overlooked how well Spire has performed in the NASCAR Cup Series this season.

So far, Daniel Suarez looks like a completely different driver than he did at Trackhouse Racing, and Carson Hocevar won the team’s first race since 2019, all while improving his total top-five finishes from 2025.

The only blot on their record has been veteran Michael McDowell, who, while still showing some of his usual consistency, has seen his average finish decline with his No. 71 team.

Whether or not this is thanks to any information from JGR is, of course, yet to be seen. Still, Dickerson maintains that his team does not need JGR’s assistance, as it already has a close technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, noting during his appearance on the Gluckcast that HMS has more wins than JGR.

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