Joe Gibbs Racing Presses Court for Access to Deleted Texts Amidst Trade Secret Dispute with Spire Motorsports

The legal battle between Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and its former competition director, Chris Gabehart, now with Spire Motorsports, has escalated, with JGR urging the Western District of North Carolina Court to compel the immediate production of deleted text messages between Gabehart and Spire, and to issue third-party subpoenas to cell phone service providers for these communications. JGR alleges that the irreparable harm stemming from the potential loss of its trade secrets cannot be overstated, particularly given Gabehart’s admitted possession and deletion of communications crucial to determining the extent of any misuse of proprietary information.

The lawsuit, JGR v. Spire and Gabehart, centers on JGR’s accusations that Gabehart, who transitioned to Chief Motorsports Officer at Spire, has illicitly transferred and potentially utilized confidential JGR information during the current NASCAR Cup Series season. JGR is seeking over $8 million in damages and is pressing for judicial intervention to ascertain the full scope of potential financial repercussions.

Evidence presented in court documents indicates that Gabehart continued to access proprietary JGR files even after a November 6th conversation with team owner Joe Gibbs, which signaled the end of their professional relationship. The following day, Gabehart reportedly photographed at least 20 instances of confidential team data. Furthermore, he accessed a "Spire" folder on his personal Google Drive, which was synchronized with his JGR-provided computer on multiple occasions between November 12th and 15th. Gabehart’s legal counsel has since apologized for these actions, characterizing them as "stupid" and expressing embarrassment and regret.

Conversely, Gabehart contends that JGR initiated the breach of contract by withholding bonuses and agreed-upon financial settlements during his separation period. JGR counters that continued payment to an individual accused of theft was untenable, alleging that Gabehart was in discussions with Spire leadership as early as October.

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Spire Motorsports has maintained its position that it never solicited trade secrets from Gabehart, nor does it desire such information, given its existing technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. Spire has provided documentation asserting that Gabehart signed non-disclosure agreements upon his official integration with the team.

The court had previously ordered expedited discovery, albeit with a narrowly defined scope, concerning communications between Gabehart and Spire co-owners Jeff Dickerson and Dan Towriss. During this discovery phase, Gabehart admitted to deleting text messages with Dickerson before November 15th, believing at the time that the matter would not escalate to litigation. Dickerson, in turn, stated that he routinely employs an auto-delete function for his text messages, including those exchanged with Gabehart, and that this feature was not deactivated until February 26th.

Analysis of the text messages produced thus far has revealed Dickerson sending Gabehart a draft of a lawsuit response that had not yet been officially filed. This revelation suggests that Spire leadership may have anticipated legal action even before the auto-delete feature was disabled.

Joe Gibbs Racing also claims to have contacted Dickerson on December 3rd, warning of tortious interference and providing a 90-day window to rectify Gabehart’s alleged transgressions. Gabehart asserts that this warning was rendered moot by JGR’s subsequent non-payment. JGR maintains that payments ceased once Gabehart stopped providing services and potentially began offering them to Spire. For instance, by November 25th, Gabehart was allegedly developing Spire’s strategic plans on official Spire letterhead.

Currently, JGR is seeking expanded expedited discovery beyond what has already been granted. The team’s primary objective is to swiftly determine if its proprietary information is being utilized by other organizations in the ongoing NASCAR Cup Series season. Judge Susan C. Rodriguez has expressed reservations about approving broad "fishing expeditions" without concrete evidence that JGR’s trade secrets are currently in use by Spire.

In its latest filing, JGR is requesting the following actions from the court:

Third-party subpoena to Jeff Dickerson: This seeks production of all communications with Gabehart regarding employment or potential employment with Spire; all documents referencing Gabehart’s employment or potential employment with Spire; all documents or communications referencing JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets; and all documents and data related to the activation and deactivation of auto-delete features.
Requests for production of documents on Spire: This requests all communications from Dickerson to Gabehart concerning employment or potential employment with Spire; all communications and documents referencing Gabehart’s employment or potential employment with Spire; all communications with Gabehart referencing JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets; all documents related to document retention policies and the activation/deactivation of auto-delete features; and all data indicating when auto-delete features were activated on Dickerson’s devices.
Third-party subpoenas to Gabehart’s and Dickerson’s telephone providers: This seeks production of text message and phone call records for both individuals covering the period of October 1, 2025, through March 13, 2026.
Third-party subpoenas to Joe Custer, Justin Marks, Todd Meredith, Rick Ware, and Tommy Baldwin: These subpoenas request communications with Dickerson that reference or relate to JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets.
Court-ordered forensic review of Dickerson’s devices: This would aim to determine if text messages responsive to JGR’s requests to Gabehart are recoverable and when the auto-delete function was activated on any of Dickerson’s devices.

This marks the second instance where JGR has petitioned the court for subpoenas targeting Custer, Marks, Meredith, Ware, and Baldwin. The judge had previously requested justification to ensure the request was not merely a "fishing expedition." JGR’s current rationale is that these individuals, affiliated with Chevrolet, represent the most probable recipients of communications from Dickerson concerning any trade secrets acquired from JGR.

JGR argues that "Through bad acts, negligence, or a combination of both, communications relevant to this dispute have been deleted. JGR should be permitted to serve these narrow and limited subpoenas to only a few recipients to ensure other relevant communications are not deleted by individuals not involved in this litigation, which is now the most efficient way to ensure highly relevant communications are preserved."

The core of JGR’s current motion revolves around the deleted text messages. The team posits: "So then, why would messages be proactively deleted? Gabehart has not provided any justification or account of his decision to delete text messages with Dickerson on November 15, 2025 and Dickerson’s purported automatic deletion practice, at a minimum, calls into question his retention of relevant material at a time when he should have taken measures to secure it. Thus, the complete unavailability of messages between two critical actors in this dispute prior to November 15, 2025 begs the immediate question of ‘why?’ The most plausible inference is that the texts were deleted to conceal misconduct. Given Gabehart’s admitted theft of JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets three days earlier, and the fact that he was communicating with the person for whose benefit Gabehart stole the information, the most plausible inference is that the misconduct was related to this stolen information."

The full filing detailing JGR’s requests is available for review.