Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a motion for expedited discovery as a lawsuit against Chris Gabehart/Spire Motorsports continues. This motion specifically focuses on a desire to acquire deleted texts.
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The motion, which JGR filed on April 1, said that Gabehart and Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson had deleted text messages from the time period in which Spire Motorsports recruited the longtime JGR crew chief-turned-competition director.
Joe Gibbs Racing is currently suing Gabehart for more than $8 million while alleging that he stole and disseminated confidential information and trade secrets, AKA the "Crown Jewels." This lawsuit has expanded to include Spire Motorsports, where Gabehart now works as Chief Motorsports Officer.
MORE: Motion for expedited discovery
Gabehart previously acknowledged that he took more than 20 photos of confidential information, an act that occurred after he and Joe Gibbs decided it would be best for them to part ways. He also accessed a personal Google Drive folder labeled "Spire."
Gabehart has disclosed that he deleted text messages with Dickerson from before Nov. 15, 2025. The Spire Motorsports co-owner, for comparison, said that he used an auto-delete function on his text messages and that he did not turn this off until Feb. 26, 2026.
This motion for expedited discovery seeks to compel both Gabehart and Spire Motorsports to produce documents relating to their exchanged messages. It also seeks a third-party subpoena for the cell phone providers to "obtain records disclosing the frequency and volume of messages and phone calls between the two individuals and the amount of text messages that have been lost."
"The deletion of these text messages justifies additional expedited discovery, which is necessary to preserve relevant evidence that is at risk of being lost before merits discovery, and to provide greater information about the circumstances leading to the deletions," JGR's legal team wrote in the motion.
"Expedited discovery is also necessary because Gabehart and Dickerson's conduct demonstrates a risk of concealment of dissemination and use of JGR's Confidential Information and Trade Secrets and delay in identifying the extent of what is being hidden risks further irreparable harm to JGR."
The deleted texts between Spire and Gabehart are far from the only part of this motion for expedited discovery. Joe Gibbs Racing also requests a forensic investigation of Dickerson's cell phone(s), tablet(s), and computer(s).
The team has already conducted forensic investigations on Gabehart's devices regarding the confidential information and trade secrets that they allege he stole. The investigation of Dickerson's devices would "provide clarity" regarding what texts have been deleted and whether they synced with another device.
"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," the motion stated.
"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 motion for expedited discovery also focuses on executives from other teams. Joe Gibbs Racing wants to subpoena Haas Factory Team executive Joe Custer, Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks, Trackhouse Racing President of Racing Operations Todd Meredith, team owner Rick Ware, and Rick Ware Racing Competition Director Tommy Baldwin.
The reason for this request is a belief that JGR's "Trade Secrets" could have made their way throughout the Cup Series garage.
"Consequently, these individuals are among the most likely individuals Dickerson may have communicated with concerning Spire's possession of JGR's Confidential Information and Trade Secrets due to their common Chevrolet relationship," the motion stated.
Spire has maintained throughout this lawsuit that it never asked for or obtained this information from JGR. Dickerson specifically used a declaration to reference an alliance with NASCAR's "winningest team," Hendrick Motorsports, as a reason why Spire would not need this confidential information.
