Joe Gibbs Racing moves to resolve one portion of Spire countersuit
Motorsport photo While not entirely justifying the claims made against it, Joe Gibbs Racing has moved to satisfy one of the counterclaims brought against it by Spire Motorsports by issuing a payment in exchange for the services of car chief Cheddar Smith.
Key points
- “The Court need not resolve that dispute to dispose of Spire’s counterclaims, because every one of them now fails for the same reason: there is nothing left to recover.
- Even though JGR disputes that the parties ever formed a trade agreement for the release of a JGR employee or payment to Spire of $100,000, JGR issues that payment to avoid any further dispute over the issue.
- Because JGR has provided Spire the complete relief its counterclaims seek, there is no longer a live case or controversy, and the counterclaims should be dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.” JGR Chief Commercial Officer Eric Schaffer detailed the formal amount in a declaration.
Read Also: Spire and Chris Gabehart countersue Joe Gibbs Racing Jeff Dickerson replies to all things Gibbs, Gabehart in legal filing To wit, Joe Gibbs Racing says it has paid Spire and that it has been accepted.
Additional details
- “On November 6, 2026, JGR paid Spire $100,000 plus legal interest accrued from the end of the 2025 season—the full measure of the only obligation Spire’s own pleading describes, and more.
- Since then, JGR has sued Gabehart, who left for Spire, on claims that he misappropriated trade secrets upon his departure and took them to his new employer -- which both defendants deny.
- However, it says that Gabehart, then serving as JGR competition director, was in charge of facilitating that agreement with Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson.
- In its claims, Spire said that it agreed to release Smith from his contract in April of 2025 in exchange for an equal level JGR employee or the payment of $100,000.
- In response to JGR filing a lawsuit against Spire and Chris Gabehart, Spire sued on allegations that it never facilitated its part of the agreement.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
Advertisement
Every article behind this summary — 1 article from 1 outlet
Get stories like this in your inbox.
Subscribe — it's freeOne free email at 6am — your topics, deduplicated, five minutes. No account, no paywall.