When Carson Hocevar crossed the finish line at Talladega last month, it pushed Spire Motorsports into celebration mode. However, for Joe Gibbs Racing, it became fresh ammunition used to reinforce its trade secrets in the JGR Lawsuit. They used the opportunity to link the win to their ongoing case against the team.

While this lawsuit had already been in process for a few months, the post-Talladega move made it clear that JGR wasn’t backing down. Now, Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson, who had mostly stayed quiet throughout all of this, has finally had enough.

Called a Liar, a Thief, and a Cheater Without Any Proof in the JGR Lawsuit

The whole legal fight goes back to November 2025, when JGR’s competition director, Chris Gabehart, requested full authority over all racing decisions. Now, in May 2026, Dickerson finally had something to say about it, and his frustration showed through in his statement.

“I will say that it is tough sitting in court and being called a liar and thief, and a cheater. And every time that a judge has asked for any evidence, they have produced nothing. Nothing,” he said on the Gluckcast.
Further, he also rejected any suggestion that Spire’s on-track improvement had anything to do with JGR’s data. In that context, he directly pointed to the team’s alliance with Hendrick Motorsports.

“We have an alliance partner 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 said. It was clear from his response that, more than the allegations themselves, something else bothered Dickerson. It was what he viewed as a deliberate attempt to undermine Spire in front of the whole industry.

When JGR refiled after the Talladega win, it implied that the victory came as a result of stolen data.
“They’re minimizing the 175 people here, like we couldn’t win without them, right? They’re implying we can’t win without JGR data,” he said. “They want to hurt us in front of the industry, in front of sponsors, and fans just because they can.”

To go deeper into the issue, when JGR refused to hand over full authority, Spire and JGR parted ways. After that, a forensic audit was done, and JGR alleged that Gabehart had photographed his laptop screen. These images allegedly contained confidential setup data as well as simulation results before he left.

By February 2026, JGR had already filed a federal lawsuit asking for over $8 million in damages. A few weeks later, Spire was added as a co-defendant. Gabehart was also hired as the team’s chief motorsports officer. In April, a judge reviewed the case. A preliminary injunction was granted against Gabehart, barring him from performing duties similar to those he did at JGR for at least 18 months.

However, that same judge denied an injunction against Spire because there was no evidence the team had received or used any of JGR’s data. Spire is still a defendant in the case, however. Talking about why Spire was still a defendant even after the judge’s ruling, Dickerson had this to say: “The process is the punishment, man. That’s just how it is.” He added, “Spire has not even begun to fight.” This pretty much summed up what Dickerson felt about the situation. However, JGR’s response came quickly.

Heather Gibbs Responds: ‘We Have a Responsibility to Stand Up’

Joe Gibbs Racing co-owner Heather Gibbs also stated to The Athletic shortly after Dickerson made his comments. Dickerson gave his statement on the Gluckcast, while Heather Gibbs responded through The Athletic, the platform Jeff Gluck writes for.

In the statement, she said, “Joe Gibbs Racing was founded on the guiding principle of valuing people above all else, so we’re not here to diminish anyone.” One thing was clear from what she said: JGR considers the theft a settled matter.

As per her, the data was “admittedly stolen by a former employee in a manner meant to avoid detection.”

To back this up, she referenced the speed at which Spire hired Gabehart, even after he was central to the argument.

Looking at the situation from Gibbs’ point of view, in the Next Gen era, cars mostly run on spec parts. This means setup data and simulation results are among the few real performance differentiators that remain. JGR spent over $15 million on R&D in 2025 alone, and according to Heather, that information is the product of 35 years of work—not just one season’s worth of files.

She also deliberately drew a line between JGR’s grievances with the organization and the driver on track.
“Drivers like Carson Hocevar are exactly what NASCAR needs,” she wrote.

Accordingly, the JGR Lawsuit is meant to target management, not the driver. The current state of this whole affair is that the trial phase is approaching. JGR is pushing for a late-2026 court date, and both sides appear ready for what comes next. If Dickerson’s tone is anything to go by, the real fight hasn’t even started yet.