When Joe Gibbs Racing first sued Chris Gabehart, and eventually Spire Motorsports, JGR initially sought $8 million from each defendant.
Now, after nine months of legal proceedings and fact discovery, Spire now says JGR is seeking ‘nearly $150 million’ in damages. The damages relate to JGR's claims of intellectual property misappropriation and alleged usage by the defendants of that data in Cup Series competition this season.
A trial is scheduled to begin on February 1 but Joe Gibbs Racing had sought an order from Judge Susan C. Rodriguez and the Western District of North Carolina to delay several pre-trial deadlines.
The reason is that JGR claims it has so much additional legwork to do as a result of documents obtained through the latter stages of discovery.
However, Spire Motorsports also said this week that JGR has continued to withhold documents ordered for production by the court, including the organization’s contracts with Toyota Racing Development, which “dramatically undermines JGR’s damages case, which rests on its expert’s opinion” on the value of the trade secrets.
Joe Gibbs Racing is asking for that delay to be able to produce such documents.
“The need arises from Judge [David] Keesler’s October 7, 2026 Order compelling Spire to produce core technical documents that will not be produced until at least October 19, 2026,” says JGR in a filing this week.
Joe Gibbs Racing did not want to delay the trial, however, because it wants the matter resolved before the start of the 2027 season. Spire disagreed with JGR's proposed pre-trial process deadlines.
“Just four days ago – after the close of fact discovery and only after the Court ordered it – JGR finally produced a final list of its allegedly misappropriated trade secrets, on top of over 13,000 other documents it previously withheld. Against this backdrop, JGR refuses to make its experts available for deposition on the Court’s previously ordered schedule and seeks a modification that would give 1) Spire just five business days to respond to JGR’s new expert reports (which will become the primary focus of the case); 2) the parties just five business days to prepare for and depose 12 experts … sprinkled around the country; 3) Spire one day to prepare its summary judgment and Daubert briefs; 4) Spire just six business days over Thanksgiving to respond to JGR’s summary judgment and Daubert motions; and 5) Spire only three days to file replies.”
Spire argued that such a timeline would be impossible and prejudicial.
On Wednesday, Judge Rodriguez partially accommodated both sides with the trial remaining on schedule for February 1. She issued the following rulings in a text-only court order.
1. Expert discovery, or reopened fact depositions, must be completed no later than November 2, 2026.
2. Summary judgment motions are due on November 9, 2026, with responses and opposition due November 23, 2026, with replies due December 1, 2026.
3. If any party seeks to exclude or limit the testimony of more than one expert witness, they must do so in a single ‘omnibus’ filing presented to the court no later than November 16, 2026. That filing must not exceed 60 pages. Responses to that must follow the same structure and page limits and would be due by December 7, 2026.
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