CHARLOTTE, NC (CN) – Spire Motorsports and its Motorsports boss Chris Gabehart hit back at Joe Gibbs Racing on Wednesday night with counterclaims in the team’s trade secrets case.
Gibbs race Gabehart suedits former director of competition in February, alleging that he stole confidential trade secrets and planned to give them to rival Spire Motorsports. It later sued Spire as a defendant, alleging that it induced Gabehart to terminate his employment contract.
Gibbs Racing, which asked the court to prevent Gabehart from working for Spire, has so far struggled to produce evidence that Gabehart has shared any racing data with Spire. In April, a federal court judge found that Gabehart can continue working as the case proceeds to trial.
On her Wednesday recriminationSpire said Gibbs Racing had previously reached a tacit agreement to solicit each other’s employees.
In 2025, Gibbs Racing wanted to recruit car chief Robert “Cheddar” Smith, Spire said, and was given a copy of his employment agreement with Spire, which she used to offer him a job.
Smith was bound by a non-compete agreement, Spire said, but she agreed to release Smith from his contract so he could work for Gibbs Racing, in exchange for Gibbs Racing allowing Spire to hire an employee later.
Gibbs Racing could also settle the contract with a $100,000 payment in lieu of releasing an employee from their non-compete agreement, Spire said. The team also claims that Gibbs Racing has utilized Smith’s knowledge and expertise, and that the car he is currently assigned to – no. 54, raced by Ty Gibbs – has seen “noticeable improvements in performance” since he started working for Gibbs Racing.
Spire wanted to hire two more employees, but Gibbs Racing declined, Spire said, and has not identified any staff it would be willing to release from its non-compete agreement.
Gibbs Racing also asked Spire to fire Gabehart, he added, calling Gibbs Racing’s legal case “bad faith,” since Gabehart has signed a contract saying he will not disclose any racing information from his former team to Spire.
It is “unjust and unfair” for Gibbs Racing to benefit from Smith’s expertise without compensating Spire, the team said, claiming Gibbs Racing breached a contract and unfairly benefited at Spire’s expense.
Gabehart separately struck again to Gibbs Racing with a list of counterclaims, arguing that the team breached his employment contract, violated the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act, is attempting to enforce an unenforceable non-compete and breached, among other things, his personal accounts.
Gibbs Racing’s legal case is a “campaign calculated to punish a dedicated former employee for exercising his contractual rights”, he said, with the aim of “seeking revenge and creating a public spectacle”.
Gabehart says he has agreed to several forensic examinations, including checking eight devices and cloud accounts.
Gibbs Racing’s medical examiner, while overseen by the team’s attorneys, gave dozens of Gabehart’s privileged attorney-client communications to opposing counsel, Gabehart said, material that was off limits in the court-ordered analysis.
“Despite this extensive and invasive forensic process that has been going on for months — and despite having direct access to the full directories, forensic logs and search reports generated by Mr.’s devices and accounts,” he said in his suit. “This failure is not accidental because no such evidence exists.”
Gibbs Racing also did not pay Gabehart his performance bonuses, he said, and stopped paying his wages several months before issuing a termination letter. The company pressed him to work as a crew chief for its car no. 54, Gabehart said, with Ty Gibbs’ mother, Heather Gibbs, cutting him a check for $500,000.
The 18-month non-compete agreement he had with Gibbs Racing is overbroad, not limited to protecting the team’s business interests and unenforceable, Gabehart argued.
“JGR unilaterally stopped paying Mr.
Gabehart has admitted taking photos of business records, but said he was aware of his confidentiality obligations and had no plans to use the information at Spire, and instead took the photos to document the 13 years he spent working at the company.
Gibbs Racing has is emphasized a lot in court that race secrets photographed by Gabehart may have been leaked, telling U.S. District Judge Susan Rodriguez in March that other teams in NASCAR have discussed confidential Gibbs Racing information in garage areas.
Spire has protested the idea that Gabehart gave the team any data, reiterating that it has no desire or desire for information on its competitor’s races.
Gibbs Racing representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The trial in this case is currently set for January 2027.
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