Joe Gibbs Racing Alleges Text Message Deletion by Former Director Amidst Trade Secret Dispute

In a significant escalation of its legal battle, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has accused former competition director Chris Gabehart of deliberately deleting crucial text messages prior to the filing of a lawsuit, thereby obstructing the discovery process and potentially concealing evidence of trade secret misappropriation. The allegations, detailed in a legal filing with the Western District of North Carolina on Wednesday night, suggest that Gabehart’s actions have prevented JGR from fully complying with an expedited discovery order and may warrant an adverse inference against him and co-defendant Spire Motorsports.

The core of the dispute revolves around JGR’s claims that Gabehart, upon his departure from the organization, "immediately operationalized" proprietary trade secrets for the benefit of Spire Motorsports, his new employer. JGR contends that Gabehart created a detailed "Focus Plan" that referenced categories of misappropriated materials and replicated JGR’s analytical tools for Spire’s use, all while still bound by a restrictive covenant.

The most recent legal salvo from JGR centers on admissions made by Gabehart regarding the deletion of text messages exchanged with Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. According to the filing, Gabehart admitted to deleting an "unknown number of responsive text messages" with Dickerson in the days immediately following his alleged misappropriation of JGR’s trade secrets. JGR argues that this deletion occurred before November 15, 2025, a date significant as it was also the day Gabehart accessed his "Spire" Google Drive folder.

"Gabehart has now admitted the deletion of an unknown number of responsive text messages with Spire’s co-owner, Jeff Dickerson—communications deleted in the days immediately following his misappropriation—depriving JGR of critical evidence and warranting an adverse inference that the deleted messages would have further implicated both Defendants in the joint misappropriation of JGR’s trade secrets," the filing states.

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JGR is seeking over $8 million in damages from Gabehart and Spire Motorsports and is requesting a preliminary injunction to immediately halt their collaboration. The team also aims for an expedited trial schedule, ideally concluding before the end of the 2026 Cup Series season, to mitigate ongoing damages.

The legal team for Joe Gibbs Racing has expressed strong concerns about the credibility of Gabehart’s responses regarding the alleged transfer of proprietary data to Spire. The deleted text messages, JGR argues, add a critical layer to this narrative.

"In response to JGR’s expedited discovery requests, Gabehart admitted that he deleted ‘text messages with Mr. Dickerson, the Spire co-owner, prior to November 15, 2025,’ rendering them ‘not available at this time,’" the filing details. "The timing of this deletion is telling. Gabehart deleted these communications the week after misappropriating JGR’s trade secrets on November 7, 2025—and he accessed his ‘Spire’ Google Drive folder on that very same day, November 15."

Gabehart has conceded that "at least one of those texts would be responsive" to the subject matter of the lawsuit, as ordered by Judge Susan C. Rodriguez. His justification for the deletion, as stated in the filing, is that "there was no threat of litigation at the time." However, JGR counters this by presenting text messages from November 18, 2025, obtained through discovery, where both Gabehart and Dickerson were discussing the potential for a lawsuit.

"Here, the surviving texts show that, by at least November 18, 2025—contemporaneous with the November 15 deletion—both Gabehart and Dickerson were discussing a potential lawsuit, rendering litigation reasonably foreseeable by both defendants," the filing asserts. "As such, he either anticipated his actions would eventually be discovered and deleted the messages to eliminate evidence central to the dispute—the essence of spoliation, or he believed he could avoid being caught and deleted them as part of a scheme to reduce the likelihood of exposure. In either scenario, he cannot now invoke the resulting evidentiary void as a shield."

JGR further points to Gabehart’s alleged action on November 7, 2025, of photographing trade secrets from a JGR computer onto his personal phone as further evidence of intent. The team also notes a precedent from a 2024 incident involving engineer Jeff Curtis, who was accused of taking trade secrets to Richard Childress Racing, suggesting Gabehart had reason to believe JGR would pursue legal action against trade theft.

The court’s expedited discovery order was limited to Gabehart himself, not Spire executives like Dickerson, co-owner Dan Towriss, or president Bill Anthony. This limitation, JGR argues, has compounded the issue. "Gabehart’s destruction of evidence has significantly impaired JGR’s ability to determine whether and the extent to which JGR’s confidential information was transmitted to Spire in advance of the hearing on JGR’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction," the filing reads. "Because expedited discovery was limited to Gabehart alone, JGR has had no ability to obtain corresponding documents from Spire to fill the gaps that Gabehart’s spoliation has created."

The team’s forensic examiner, according to the filing, could not exclude the possibility that JGR information was shared through deleted text messages, web-based email portals, Google Photos, or other file-sharing platforms. JGR maintains that Gabehart’s deliberate destruction of evidence warrants an adverse inference that the deleted communications were damaging to both him and Spire.

Beyond the deleted texts, JGR alleges that Gabehart began developing a strategy plan for Spire within 15 days of leaving JGR, receiving an offer from Spire, and subsequently ceasing his duties. This "Focus Plan," currently sealed, reportedly functions as a roadmap for leveraging JGR’s confidential information, specifically referencing setup procedures, Crew Chief audits, driver debriefs, and performance analytics. JGR accuses Gabehart of implementing this trade data in January 2026, creating a Spire spreadsheet that closely replicates JGR’s proprietary race-performance analytics tool, complete with JGR terminology and approaches, by the season-opening Daytona 500.

"The resemblance is not coincidental; it reflects the direct migration of JGR’s trade-secret framework to Spire—conferring an immediate competitive advantage to Spire that is grounded in stolen information," the filing states, using the analogy of a coach whose player has left with the playbook to join the opposing team.

JGR also contends that Gabehart was communicating with Spire co-owner Dan Towriss as early as October, a claim Gabehart denies. The team further accuses Gabehart of running "compensation projections" for Spire in a file labeled "My Cut." While Spire states Gabehart’s official start date was February 17, JGR points to emails between Gabehart and Bill Anthony discussing organizational flow charts by early February 2026.

Despite Spire’s assertion that Gabehart signed a non-disclosure agreement and Dickerson’s claim of an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, JGR accuses Spire of presenting a public facade. The filing highlights text messages from February 11, 2026, exchanged between Gabehart and Dickerson, strategizing over the impending lawsuit. Dickerson’s remark that "it’s on" and Gabehart’s comment about framing language referencing JGR "given all of this" suggest the February 16 Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement was a reactive measure rather than a genuine safeguard.

In a related development, Spire president Bill Anthony reportedly posted a declaration claiming the team is covering Gabehart’s legal fees, an arrangement not initially agreed upon. Text messages from February 22 indicate Spire’s excitement for Gabehart’s response to the lawsuit and their commitment to supporting him. JGR has previously suggested Gabehart might be under Spire’s financial legal aid, citing his Google searches for "indemnity" in November.

The presence of Chris Gabehart in the Spire Motorsports garage areas at Darlington Raceway during a recent Truck Series and Cup Series event has also drawn scrutiny. JGR Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Eric Schaffer noted Gabehart wearing a "customized two-way radio," distinct from typical fan scanners, which is used for team communications. Schaffer’s declaration also cites reports of Gabehart speaking with Spire employees about the race behind haulers. JGR argues this behavior, coupled with his alleged credibility issues and prior efforts to use JGR information for Spire’s benefit, necessitates a reporting requirement, stating, "Gabehart cannot be simply trusted to comply." However, reports from the scene indicated Gabehart was engaged in public conversations within the garage.

The legal proceedings are ongoing, with both sides set to argue over the preliminary injunction motion. Joe Gibbs Racing seeks to either bar Gabehart from working for Spire or mandate detailed reporting of his duties to ensure no overlap with his former responsibilities. The team’s push for an expedited trial underscores their desire for a swift resolution to protect their proprietary interests before the 2026 season concludes.