Gibbs seeking additional expedited discovery after disclosure of deleted text messages

Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a second motion in the Western District of North Carolina seeking expedited discovery in its lawsuit against former competition director Chris Gabehart.

The ask comes after both Gabehart and Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson acknowledged that text messages have been deleted. In its motion, Gibbs lays out that Gabehart disclosed “for the first time” that he deleted his messages with Dickerson predating Nov. 15, 2025. Dickerson’s counsel thereafter said that his text messages with Gabehart before approximately Jan. 26 had been deleted.

“The deletion of these text messages justifies additional expedited discovery, which is necessary to preserve relevant evidence that is at risk of being lost before merits discovery, and to provide greater information about the circumstances leading to the deletions,” the motion states. “Expedited discovery is also necessary because Gabehart and Dickerson’s conduct demonstrates a risk of concealment of dissemination and use of JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets and delay in identifying the extent of what is being hidden risks further irreparable harm to JGR.”

Gibbs filed its lawsuit against Gabehart, alleging stolen trade secrets, Feb. 19. It has since been proven that Gabehart took pictures of his Gibbs-issued laptop and had made folders that were labeled "Spire." However, he and Spire Motorsports continue to maintain that the information never traded hands.

There has been no evidence yet presented by Gibbs to prove its claims.

Gabehart served as the competition director at Gibbs in 2025 and as crew chief for Ty Gibbs late in the season, in an effort to help the No. 54 team make the postseason. But in early November Gabehart, unhappy with his role and seeking additional responsibilities, met with Joe Gibbs. It ended with Gabehart saying he wanted to leave the company.

The two sides were initially working on a separation agreement when Gibbs discovered that Gabehart was still accessing their information and taking pictures. Gibbs sent a termination letter to Gabehart in early February.

Currently, the court has ordered Gabehart and Spire Motorsports to work under a temporary restraining order. It prevents Gabehart from performing the same role for Spire that he did for Gibbs. Judge Susan Rodriguez has not yet made her ruling on the preliminary injunction Joe Gibbs Racing is seeking, which was heard before the court March 26.

“From Gabehart’s response, it appears that he did not delete text messages with other potentially relevant custodians – only communications with Dickerson,” the Gibbs motion goes on to say. “Gabehart provides no explanation for why he decided to delete these messages, and only these messages. Why this information was not disclosed during the March 16, 2026, hearing is deeply troubling to JGR because of what it indicates about the ongoing threat of disclosure and use of JGR’s trade secrets and confidential information.”

Joe Gibbs Racing wants to subpoena Dickerson to provide all communications with Gabehart regarding employment or potential employment, any subsequent documentation, communications, or information that refer to or relate to the stolen Gibbs information, and documents and data related to the activation and deactivation of the autodelete feature on his phone. Additionally, they want Spire Motorsports to produce all of the same information.

Joe Gibbs Racing also wants to subpoena the telephone providers of Gabehart and Dickerson to get records that show their communications between Oct. 1, 2025 and March 13, 2026. They also want to subpoena Joe Custer, Justin Marks, Todd Meredith, Rick Ware and Tommy Baldwin “for communications with Dickerson” about the stolen Gibbs information.

Lastly, Joe Gibbs Racing wants a forensic review of Dickerson’s electronic devices to determine if text messages “responsive to JGR’s Requests for Production of Documents to Gabehart are recoverable from those devices; and (b) when the autodelete function(s) on any of Dickerson’s Devices were activated.”