Spire Motorsports files counterclaim against Joe Gibbs Racing

Spire Motorsports has filed a countersuit against Joe Gibbs Racing while continuing to strongly deny that it has cheated its way to success via information stolen from the Gibbs organization.

The countersuit explains a previous plotline from the original lawsuit in which Spire Motorsports acknowledged that Joe Gibbs Racing recruited Robert "Chedder" Smith in the spring of 2025 to be the car chief for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 team. In turn, Spire told Gibbs that Smith had a non-compete prohibiting him from working for Gibbs until Nov. 30, 2025, and that there was an option to extend his contract through 2026.

Gibbs persisted in trying to hire Smith, and Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson later agreed to negotiate a potential release, with the understanding that there would be a “trade” between the organizations. Smith went to Gibbs, and Spire would hire a Gibbs employee of their choosing at a later date. There was also the option for Gibbs to pay $100,000 instead of releasing an employee.

A few months later, Dickerson asked Gibbs to release Tyler Allen, who had been the car chief for Gibbs before being replaced by Smith, from his contract. However, Gibbs “refused to do so.”

Dickerson would go on to ask Gibbs in the fall of 2025 if they would release Ryan Towles, another car chief, so they could hire him. “Yet again, JGR refused. To date, JGR has refused to identify any JGR employee it would release from its non-compete agreement for purposes of employment by Spire.” The team says JGR has also failed to make the $100,000 payment.

In early November, Gabehart informed Dickerson, whom he has known throughout his career, that he and Gibbs were mutually separating. Dickerson saw a chance to create a position at Spire Motorsports that would relieve him of the day-to-day management and, therefore, hired Gabehart as chief motorsports officer.

Gabehart began working for Spire Motorsports in February, just days before Joe Gibbs Racing filed the original lawsuit alleging stolen trade secrets. Spire Motorsports remains adamant that it never asked for, received, or used any confidential information from Gibbs.

“Spire has no interest in, and no need for, JGR’s purported trade secrets or confidential information,” the countersuit reiterates. Additionally, “as of the date this Answer was filed, JGR has not produced any of the trade secrets or confidential information it contends Spire misappropriated. As of the date this Answer was filed, JGR has not identified any evidence showing that Gabehart transmitted JGR’s purported trade secrets or confidential information to other Spire employees.”

Spire Motorsports alleges that Gibbs breached the trade by failing to release an employee or pay the $100,000. Smith took the same job at Joe Gibbs Racing that he held with Spire Motorsports, bringing his knowledge of his former organization’s performance methods, race evaluation processes, setupsqa and strategy.

The filing started with a preliminary statement from Spire Motorsports that starts with two pointed paragraphs:

“This case is about a NASCAR team that, unable to keep a rising competitor in its rearview mirror, turned to the courthouse in a futile effort to protect its long-dominant reign over the sport. Rather than acknowledge that Spire is a bystander to what amounts to a bad breakup that one side evidently regrets, JGR has chosen to ignore its own behavior and blame everyone else for the position it finds itself in. The only explanation for JGR’s irrational behavior is that it wants to take competition off the racetrack and bully a competitor in the courtroom. That isn’t what racing is about.

“Success in NASCAR Cup Series racing comes from many factors, including driving talent, engineering talent, the right equipment, adaptability, strategic execution, and old-fashioned luck. JGR, an entrenched Cup Series competitor, has historically enjoyed great success, deploying its considerable financial resources to field competitive teams over many years. But JGR elevated nepotism over competitive excellence when it installed the grandson of JGR’s owner as the No. 54 car’s driver, instead of re-signing the driver that had won multiple Cup Series championships for JGR – and the No. 54 car’s performance began to slip. To make matters worse, JGR demanded the team treat that new driver with kid gloves and refused to let anyone within JGR’s organization hold him accountable for his conduct.

"Christopher Gabehart – a NASCAR standout who helped JGR achieve many of its successes – understandably didn’t want to babysit a neophyte driver, but quickly learned that was the role JGR expected him to take on. So Gabehart eventually decided to leave JGR, in a manner that triggered a bespoke provision of his Employment Agreement that reduced the duration of his non-compete restriction to a single week. Upon receiving Gabehart’s notification, JGR acknowledged that Gabehart and JGR should part ways, with the understanding that Gabehart would seek a new role that matched his considerable skill.”

Among the relief that Spire Motorsports is seeking is that the claims made by Joe Gibbs Racing are dismissed, a judgment is entered in favor of their counterclaims, attorney fees and expenses be awarded, as well as any other relief that may be appropriate. They have asked for a jury trial to settle the matter.