Joe Gibbs Racing has notified Spire Motorsports and former employee Chris Gabehart that it intends to amend and refile its lawsuit against them.

The team has now begun to use what they describe as a 'transformation' in Spire's fortunes against the team, including Carson Hocevar's maiden win at Talladega on Sunday, to call for an expedited trial.

That particular piece of 'evidence' seems like a reach, given that Hocevar is one of the sport's rising stars and finished two races in second place last year – with pundits happily predicting that he'd get over the hump this year before Gabehart even joined Spire. But Oval Insider writers are not lawyers.

Gabehart formerly worked at Joe Gibbs Racing in a number of roles, including as Denny Hamlin's crew chief and, most recently, their Director of Competition.

However, Gabehart left the team under mysterious circumstances in the offseason, and following the Daytona 500 in February, Joe Gibbs Racing filed a lawsuit against their former employee, claiming that he "embarked on a brazen scheme to steal JGR’s most sensitive information and use it for the benefit of a direct competitor in NASCAR – Spire Motorsports."

Gabehart denies any wrongdoing and initially dismissed the claims as 'baseless'. Following that, Spire Motorsports then confirmed his appointment as the organization’s Chief Motorsports Officer, and Joe Gibbs Racing subsequently added Spire's name to the lawsuit.

NASCAR RESULTS: Carson Hocevar takes epic first Cup Series victory at Talladega

JGR: Hocevar win a sign of Spire wrongdoing

In a motion to get the trial date set for this winter, before Spire claim they will have a full defence ready, the JGR team claim: “NASCAR commentators have openly noted that Spire – a team long regarded as a perennial back marker – now appears transformed. Suddenly, ‘everything’s looking up for them,’ with multiple cars qualifying inside the top 10.

“As one analyst candidly acknowledged, there is a ‘rhyme and reason’ behind Spire’s newfound speed and ‘there’s a reason there’s a lawsuit going on.’ As the commentator explained, ‘everything is about people in this world, and [Spire] hired a good one with Chris Gabehart’ – a person who admittedly misappropriated JGR’s trade secrets and confidential information – and ‘that’s a big reason why they’re running good.’”

“These are not isolated musings. They reflect an emerging recognition that Spire’s implausible single season competitive leap coincides directly with Gabehart’s arrival and influence on the Cup Series. In fact, just this past week, a Spire driver – who appears in previously submitted evidence to be in close proximity to Gabehart during qualifying – on a Cup Series race for only the second time in Spire’s history.

"Spire’s only other win occurred in a weather-shortened race seven years prior. This underscores that unfair competitive harm is already underway, visible on the track, and being openly attributed to the very conduct at issue in this case. The case should proceed to merits discovery and trial for a judgment on Defendants’ actions as quickly as reasonably possible.”

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