Spire Owner Says Joe Gibbs Racing “Intentionally Staged” Lawsuit to Undermine Team’s Growth

What’s Happening?

Spire Motorsports co-owner and co-founder Jeff Dickerson explained what he thinks is the true reason Joe Gibbs Racing filed its lawsuit against his team and former JGR Competition Chris Gabehart in a new court filing.

In the weeks since Joe Gibbs Racing filed its lawsuit alleging that former Competition Director Chris Gabehart deliberately misappropriated Joe Gibbs Racing technical information, the defendants, Gabehart and his new employer Spire Motorsports, have maintained a level of assertiveness in their legal filings.

The real meat of the matter has, for the most part, come from Gabehart, who has claimed in filings that JGR misled him on his position as Competition Director, allowed special treatment to a specific team in their lineup, and that members of the Gibbs family showed resentment towards him, among other claims.

Gabehardt and Spire leadership have also denied the allegations made by JGR in February on several occasions.

Late last month, the CEO of TWG Motorsports (a member of Spire’s ownership group), Dan Towriss, told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports that “Spire doesn’t want data from Joe Gibbs Racing. It doesn’t have data from Joe Gibbs Racing. No point in time has it had data from Joe Gibbs Racing.”

This week, Spire’s top dog, co-owner and co-founder Jeff Dickerson, got his chance to tell his side of the story in a declaration filed to the court Wednesday evening.

Though there is a lot to take away from Dickerson’s 22-page declaration, including some slight barbs thrown at JGR that we will get to momentarily, one claim from the long-time industry member stands out among the rest.

On pages six and seven, Dickerson claims that last spring, the departure of former car chief for the Spire Motorsports No. 7, Robert ‘Cheddar’ Smith, was part of what he called a “trade understanding” with JGR.

Per this understanding, as Dickerson knew of JGR’s interest in hiring Smith ahead of time, if JGR offered Smith a worthwhile deal, Spire would terminate Smith’s contract, allowing him to work for JGR immediately, with the caveat that JGR allow Spire to do the same or pay $100,000 in the future.

“18. In common parlance, what we agreed to was a “trade,” and that is how I and JGR referred to it in our conversations. In this declaration and for ease of reference, I will refer to this agreement as the “Trade Understanding.

19. Joe Gibbs and other executives at JGR were aware of (and involved in) the Trade Understanding.

20. Ultimately, Robert Smith chose to accept JGR’s offer in April 2025, Spire released him from his then-active contract, and Spire waived the non-compete provision in his contract. Spire did so in full reliance on JGR’s representation that it would either allow Spire to hire a high-profile competition employee from JGR in the future or pay Spire $100,000.

21. Spire then waited for JGR’s $100,000 payment, or for the opportunity to pursue a JGR employee of Spire’s choosing.” — Page 7

Since Smith’s move to JGR, Dickerson claims that, despite inquiring about several JGR employees, the team has yet to hold up their end of the deal, something he even met with Gabehart, then still in his role at JGR, about in October 2025.

Dickerson’s declaration also went into the recruiting of Gabehart to Spire amid the former Daytona 500 champion’s falling out with JGR.

During this portion, the Spire boss also commented on the recent development that JGR had hired a private investigator to follow Gabehart, something Dickerson said “disturbed” him, as it was an “extraordinary” step that he had never seen in his time in motorsports.

“42. Unbeknownst to me, JGR had hired a private investigator to follow Mr. Gabehart around. Dkt. The private investigator apparently took photographs of me eating lunch with Mr. Gabehart. Id. I was surprised and, quite frankly, disturbed to learn that a competitor in our industry had hired someone to follow its former employee around. I cannot stress this enough: It is extraordinary for an organization in our business to hire a private investigator to follow around any employee, let alone a former employee. In my twenty-five years of experience in this industry, I have never once heard of a team doing so.” — Page 12

Though the real sparks in this declaration are found in a section titled “Attacks on Spire’s Integrity,” where Dickerson alleges that JGR timed the lawsuit to “interfere with Spire’s legitimate business operations and to disrupt Spire’s motorsports teams mid-season.”

“It appears to me that JGR has intentionally staged this litigation to interfere with Spire’s legitimate business operations and to disrupt Spire’s motorsports teams mid-season. Rather than taking the opportunity that Spire offered to allow for a forensic inspection of Spire’s systems, JGR chose to run to court, long after it knew what Mr. Gabehart had done, long after a digital forensics examiner found no hint of Mr. Gabehart sharing or distributing any trade secrets to Spire, and long after it knew Mr. Gabehart was pursuing employment with Spire.” — Page 19

He then reasoned that because JGR did not take Spire’s offer for a full forensic inspection of Spire’s systems, the team is going after Spire as a competitive strategy rather than one focused on fairness in competition.

As Dickerson alleged, “This lawsuit is an effort to stifle Spire as it attempts to build a team that, one day, could rack up the number of wins that JGR touts.”

“This lawsuit is an effort to stifle Spire as it attempts to build a team that, one day, could rack up the number of wins that JGR touts. Rather than allowing that competition to play out on the track, and rather than considering what brought JGR here in the first place, JGR has chosen to attack, disparage, and demean Spire.” — Page 19

In closing, Dickerson pleaded to the court that if Spire were to lose Gabehart, the team would “face dire immediate consequences, including the reality that I would not be able to continue managing and operating Spire’s various business initiatives without additional assistance.”

As of press time, JGR has not responded to Dickerson’s accusations of the lawsuit being “staged litigation.”

A March 2 ruling from a North Carolina judge allowed Gabehart to continue in his new role at Spire Motorsports, though he cannot perform the same services he supplied to JGR.

Following that ruling, which JGR was “pleased” by, the team remained committed to their allegations, saying, “We will continue the legal process to protect our information and fight for what is right for our race team, our employees, and our partners.”

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