Judge Sets January Trial in Joe Gibbs Racing–Spire Trade-Secret Case

Overview

• Judge Susan C. Rodriguez scheduled the case for trial in January and directed the sides to submit proposed pretrial dates within 10 days.
• The judge approved expedited steps to recover deleted texts, including subpoenas to phone providers and a forensic review of Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson’s devices.
• Requests to broadly subpoena other Chevrolet team officials were denied after the court called that approach a fishing expedition.
• Joe Gibbs Racing seeks more than $8 million and, in an amended filing, alleges Chris Gabehart took confidential competition data and that Spire’s recent gains trace to that information.
• The court has confirmed Gabehart copied JGR files to a personal device, but there is no proof Spire received or used the data, a gap that remains central as discovery continues.