Trial date confirmed in Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR | Sports News

A trial date and schedule have formally been set for the continued legal battle between Joe Gibbs Racing, Chris Gabehart and Spire Motorsports, with each the lawsuit and countersuit shifting ahead.

In a Thursday morning order from Judge Susan C. Rodriguez, a nine-day trial has been scheduled to start on Monday, February 1, simply days earlier than the beginning of the 2027 NASCAR season. Both defendants have denied the allegations made byJoe Gibbs Racing and have since filed countersuits towards the group.

JGR has but to current conclusive proof supporting its claims, though Judge Rodriguez has decided that Gabehart did misappropriate knowledge when he left the workforce. Gabehart has maintained that he has since returned all of the knowledge he took and has denied transferring any of the fabric to Spire Motorsports.

Joe Gibbs Racing filed the lawsuit towards its former crew chief and competitors director after alleging he took confidential and trade-secret data with him when he left the group to grow to be Spire Motorsports’ Chief Motorsports Officer in February. JGR additionally sued Spire, claiming the workforce used the proprietary data during the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Gabehart had sought a bigger management position within JGR, however workforce proprietor Joe Gibbs declined the request, resulting in his departure from the organisation on November 10. While Gabehart returned his company-issued laptop computer and cellphone, JGR alleges he photographed delicate data from his work pc and transferred proprietary recordsdata to a personal Google Drive folder labelled “Spire” that contained confidential workforce knowledge.

The group subsequently filed a lawsuit towards its former competitors director, alleging misuse of commerce secrets and techniques and looking for damages of a minimum of $8 million. After Spire Motorsports introduced Gabehart’s appointment as Chief Motorsports Officer on February 21, 2026, JGR amended its grievance to incorporate the workforce as a defendant.

The amended submitting additionally sought a non permanent restraining order that may forestall Gabehart from working in a comparable competitors position at Spire during the phrases of his non-compete settlement, whereas additionally requesting that each Gabehart and Spire be barred from utilizing or retaining any confidential data belonging to JGR.

Spire Motorsports later filed a countersuit towards JGR as half of the continued legal dispute.

The countersuit addresses a earlier problem raised in the case involving Robert “Chedder” Smith, who JGR sought to rent in the spring of 2025 as car chief for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 workforce. According to Spire’s submitting,

JGR was knowledgeable that Smith was underneath a non-compete settlement that prevented him from becoming a member of the workforce earlier than November 30, 2025, with an option to increase his contract by the 2026 season.

Spire claims JGR continued pursuing Smith regardless of these restrictions, prompting co-owner Jeff Dickerson to debate a potential release. The workforce alleges the discussions included the likelihood of a personnel exchange, with Smith becoming a member of JGR and Spire being allowed to rent a Gibbs worker at a later date. Spire additionally states that JGR had the option to pay $100,000 as a substitute of releasing an worker.