Spire Motorsports has claimed in a legal filing that Joe Gibbs Racing is seeking $150 million in damages as part of an ongoing lawsuit.
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Back in February, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a lawsuit against Chris Gabehart, the team's former competition director, alleging he embarked on a brazen scheme to steal confidential information and trade secrets. Joe Gibbs Racing also later named Spire Motorsports as a defendant.
This lawsuit has led to multiple hearings in North Carolina and even more motions filed by both sides. Tuesday night continued this trend as JGR filed a motion seeking sanctions against Gabehart, who admitted he deleted text messages between himself and Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. Another motion sought to alter the case schedule.
Spire Motorsports filed an opposition to the motion to alter the schedule. In this opposition, the team provided more details about the damages JGR seeks.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Proposed Altered Schedule
"JGR seeks nearly $150 million in damages from Spire despite the paucity of evidence that Spire misappropriated anything, let alone JGR's 'crown jewels,'" the opposition document stated.
This opposition continued and said that the Toyota Racing Development contract with Joe Gibbs Racing "dramatically undermines" the damages claim. "JGR's damages expert opines that JGR's damages are $47.4 million."
The opposition to the motion did not provide details about the difference between $47.4 million and $150 million. It would be reasonable to assume that the $102.6 million will be filed under "punitive damages."
These damages can be used in civil cases when defendants can not be punished with prison time. The punitive damages are a way to punish "egregious" conduct. These are also used as a method to deter future misconduct by the defendant.
Punitive damages can also be used to deter other individuals from taking part in similar actions.
The trial for Joe Gibbs Racing vs. Spire Motorsports and Gabehart is currently set for February 2027, before the start of the 2027 Cup Series season. Whether this timeline changes depends on how the judge rules on the motion for an altered schedule.
