Joe Gibbs Racing has uploaded more declarations as a legal battle with Chris Gabehart/Spire Motorsports continues. This time, the Cup Series team pushes back against the claims of a trade agreement.
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"I have read Jeff Dickerson's declaration filed in this case regarding an alleged 'Trade Understanding,'" wrote Toni Rogers, Chief People Officer at Joe Gibbs Racing.
"To my knowledge, at no time did JGR have an open-ended agreement that gave Spire a wild card for a trade 'for a player to be named later.'"
MORE: Full Declaration Regarding "Trade" Claims
Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson filed a 22-page declaration on Wednesday night and addressed several aspects of the lawsuit filed by Joe Gibbs Racing against Gabehart, the team's former competition director, as well as Spire Motorsports.
It was in this declaration that Dickerson said that Spire Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing had reached a trade agreement regarding No. 7 car chief Robert Smith. Dickerson said that he had learned that Coach Joe Gibbs and Heather Gibbs had been actively recruiting the veteran car chief.
He said that they worked out a deal where he would waive the non-compete clause in Smith's contract. In return, JGR would either allow Spire Motorsports to recruit an employee or pay $100,000. Dickerson alleged that JGR did not uphold either side of this agreement.
Rogers continued with their declaration and said that the only "trade" they had knowledge of focused on spotters. Rogers said that the two teams had discussed swapping spotters but that this never actually happened.
"The understanding was that if the Spire spotter joined JGR, JGR would take over his existing salary and if it was greater than what JGR had been paying the JGR spotter, that differential would be offset against the $100,000.00," Rogers wrote.
"Ultimately, that trade never happened as the Spire spotter chose not to leave Spire. To my knowledge, JGR has never received an invoice for the referenced payment of $100,000.00."
To further this point, Rogers attached an email that Gabehart had sent in March 2025. According to this email, Dickerson had said via text that Smith's last race with Spire Motorsports would be at Martinsville Speedway. The veteran car chief would then be free to join JGR.
"This is in exchange for 100k and is independent of the spotter deal happening," Gabehart wrote in the March email. "I have been told that if the spotter deal happens, which is still being worked on their side before it is worked on ours, any pay delta we incur between (redacted) and (redacted) would come out of the 100K.
"I do not have that in writing, but I feel good about where Jeff and I are that if he said it, he meant it and will honor it."
The sides of this legal battle will meet again in court on Monday. They will discuss Joe Gibbs Racing's motions for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order that would prevent Gabehart from working at Spire Motorsports for a period of 18 months. It remains unclear if this hearing will touch on the alleged trade agreement.
