NASCAR News: Spire Motorsports' Jeff Dickerson comes out swinging on Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit

Lawsuit drama in NASCAR continued on Thursday as Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson came out swinging on the ongoing Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit against his team.

JGR sued their former Director of Competition, Chris Gabehart, back in February, alleging 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."

Spire then hired Gabehart as their Chief Motorsports Officer, after which Joe Gibbs Racing added them to the initial lawsuit.

After several legal back-and-forths already, the latest significant update came last week when JGR was granted a preliminary injunction that prevents Gabehart from performing the same duties that he did at JGR, at Spire, and from sharing any data that he took with his new team.

There was no action or preliminary injunction against Spire Motorsports. However, they remain a defendant in the ongoing case, alongside Gabehart, with a trial date currently in the works.

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Jeff Dickerson's fiery Joe Gibbs Racing comments

Now, in a fiery interview on The Gluckcast, Dickerson has come out punching, opening up on how tough it is for his team to be accused of cheating, while at the same time, warning Joe Gibbs Racing he'll make them wish they hadn't gone down this route.

“I don't think any of us want to be here. I don't think any of us want to be in court. Nobody wants to be in court,” Dickerson said. “I will say that it is tough sitting in court and being called a liar and a thief and a cheater. And every time that a judge has asked for any evidence, they have produced nothing.”

Dickerson continued: “That part is tough because this whole sport has watched us grow up, and we've done everything the right way, everything, we have taken no shortcuts. So when we hear in court that we're trying to take a shortcut, you know, it's tough to hear sometimes.

“Even Monday, they filed something after the win [Hocevar’s at Talladega] and essentially were linking it back to Chris [Gabehart]. I’ll tell you what upsets me is that not only is Chris not in that role, but they're minimising what happens here. They're minimising the 175 people here, like we couldn't win without them, right?

“And I don't even just mean like without Chris, they're implying we can't win without JGR data. As you know, and the whole sport knows, we have an alliance partner [Hendrick Motorsports] that's won 320 races. We don't need their stuff, we don't want their stuff. I didn't ask for their stuff.”

Dickerson: They might win something, but I’ll make sure that they wish they hadn’t

The Spire co-owner continued: “The other thing that sucks is that we've just kind of been on the sidelines through this, right? We have sort of a few declarations that I was able to make right, but we haven't really been able to talk in court or do much in court. But that’s about to change.

“If we're in the trial phase, that's about to change, and I can tell you, this fire has not even begun to fight. Again, I don't want to be in court, but I can tell you that going all the way back to our agency, routes, and representing several people in that garage through these things, Spire is comfortable in court, Spire is comfortable winning in court, and this phase is our speciality.

"They've called us a lot of things. Right? And we know it, we hear it, and so if the point is to try to hurt us, or try to burn us down. Okay, well, I don’t think they’re gonna beat us.

"They might win something, but I’ll make sure that they wish they hadn’t.”

When is the JGR v Spire Motorsports and Gabehart trial?

At this stage, a court date is unclear. Joe Gibbs Racing has proposed a November trial date, but Gabehart and Spire Motorsports have pushed for a trial in May 2027.

We will bring you further developments on this once confirmed, and already by the time of publication Denny Hamlin has responded to Dickerson's comments - and boy is his response spicy. This one is not quieting down any time soon...