Joe Gibbs Racing provides to lawsuit in opposition to Chris Gabehart, Spire

Late final week, the choose overseeing the Joe Gibbs Racing v Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports lawsuit accredited a movement from the plaintiffs to refile its authorized complaints and accomplished that course of on Monday afternoon.

The core tenets of the lawsuit stay the identical.

Joe Gibbs Racing alleges that Chris Gabehart, who labored on the group from 2012 to 2025 as an engineer, crew chief and competitors director, misappropriated commerce secrets and techniques for the advantages of his new employer, Spire.

Joe Gibbs Racing has referred to as it a ‘quick reduce’ to operating close to the entrance of the sphere, with Spire having received two races this season. 

Additional, JGR has argued in court docket and inside authorized filings that Gabehart breached his contract in how he left for Spire and what work in performs for the latter because the group’s Chief Motorsports Officer. This can be a position that JGR claims is a misleading entrance to cover that Gabehart is performing duties just like what he most just lately carried out as their competitors director.

That will be one other breach of the non-compete settlement.

For his or her half, Gabehart and Spire have continued to argue in court docket that no commerce secreted data was transferred from the longtime engineer to the crew co-owned by Jeff Dickerson and TWG World. The court docket has concluded definitively that Gabehart misappropriated quite a few commerce secrets and techniques as Gabehart accessed JGR information, setup sheets and monetary data, taking photos of others on his private mobile phone, putting them on his private Google drive.

Gabehart says, after JGR came upon by a forensic evaluation of his units, that he deleted and in any other case returned all commerce secrets and techniques to Joe Gibbs Racing with the latter nonetheless arguing in court docket that it believes Spire is utilizing it within the NASCAR Cup Sequence this season.

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This second amended grievance largely reads similar to the one which got here earlier than it, however there are a number of new additions.

The primary notable addition is a declare from Joe Gibbs Racing that states it has intel from one Spire worker as detailed to his counterpart at JGR that Gabehart is taking part and main competitors conferences at Spire, which it believes is a violation of their non-compete settlement.

The beneath italicized excerpts are from the revised lawsuit.

A Spire worker has knowledgeable a JGR worker that Gabehart is answerable for and/or considerably taking part in Spire’s competitors technique and choices. Staff had been instructed to not talk about the very fact Gabehart is main and/or taking part in Spire’s competitors and technique decision-making course of outdoors of Spire. There is no such thing as a authorized justification for advising its staff to hide the true nature of Gabehart’s providers. Spire is conscious that Gabehart main and/or taking part in Spire’s competitors technique and decision-making violates his noncompete obligations set forth within the Settlement.

Upon data and perception, Spire staff who assist competitors efforts work with Gabehart on competitors technique and choices. Spire is conscious that Gabehart main Spire’s competitors technique and decisions-making violates his noncompete obligations set forth within the Settlement.

Spire has added a brand new grievance in its revised lawsuit that the titled of Chief Motorsports Officer is in itself an effort to supply cowl that Gabehart is successfully doing what he did at Gibbs whereas serving as competitors director, which it believes is a violation of their non-compete settlement.

Once more, the italicized beneath is taken from the revised lawsuit.

Figuring out the Settlement contained noncompete, non-solicitation, and confidentiality provisions stopping Gabehart from, amongst different issues, offering Spire with the identical or related providers he supplied JGR inside the final 12 months, Spire created a bespoke position for Gabehart which required him to carry out the identical or related providers he supplied JGR within the prior 12 months. Spire employed him to that position and has repeatedly induced Gabehart to violate his noncompete and confidentiality obligations by allowing and/or requiring him to carry out the identical or related providers he supplied JGR within the prior 12 months at the least the March 22, 2026 Goodyear 400 and the April 12, 2026 Meals Metropolis 500, together with throughout Spire’s preparation for these races within the days main as much as every race.

Spire employed Gabehart so Gabehart may present it with the identical providers he supplied JGR within the prior 12 months. Spire’s sole motive in creating the precise position it created for Gabehart was deception. Specifically, Spire created a job that provides the looks of Gabehart offering important providers for non-NASCAR Cup Sequence competitors, when that was not Spire’s intent for his providers, nor on data and perception what he’s doing. The misleading title was created solely to try to provide a believable clarification for Gabehart to be current at NASCAR Cup Sequence occasions at instances and in locations the place he can violate his restrictive covenant by advising on competitors in a approach that may be very troublesome for an outsider to detect or show. There is no such thing as a authorized justification for this misleading conduct.

 

Joe Gibbs Racing additionally says it has ‘upon conviction and perception, that Spire was permitted to enter the store as early as December, a violation of its non-compete. It additionally claims that Dickerson is telling those that he has JGR’s commerce secrets and techniques.

Upon data and perception, Spire allowed Gabehart to enter its race store throughout December 2025 and January 2026 whereas Spire was getting ready for the 2026 NASCAR season and after Spire knew of Gabehart’s noncompete, non-solicitation, and confidentiality provisions below the Settlement.

Upon data and perception, Jeff Dickerson has knowledgeable different people that he possesses parts of JGR’s Confidential Info and Commerce Secrets and techniques Gabehart took from JGR.

Joe Gibbs Racing has beforehand sought third-party discovery on the likes of Justin Marks and Todd Meredit at Trackhouse, Joe Custer at Haas Manufacturing facility Group and Rick Ware and Tommy Baldwin that might show this assertion.

The choose has informed JGR that it’s going to not permit a fishing expedition until JGR can show a hyperlink to Spire and this data with the third events.

So far as the non-compete clause itself, Gabehart has argued he’s not in violation as a result of JGR violated first when it stopped paying him in December. JGR says it stopped paying Gabehart, and reduce off a separation package deal negotiation, upon realizing that he had been speaking with Spire on the identical time he was accessing JGR commerce secrets and techniques. 

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