From Private Investigator to Computer Forensic Experts: Inside JGR-Gabehart Dispute

Charles R. Jonas Federal Building (Charlotte, N.C.) — Among the few things that Joe Gibbs Racing, Spire Motorsports and Chris Gabehart likely can agree to in their contentious litigation, is this statement from Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson: “It is extraordinary for an organization in our business to hire a private investigator to follow around any employee, let alone a former employee,” Dickerson said in a court filing. “In my twenty-five years of experience in this industry, I have never once heard of a team doing so.” There is at least one item also not up for debate: Gabehart took photos of JGR confidential information. “Is he proud of it? No,” Gabehart attorney Cary Davis told the court in a hearing last month. “He’s embarrassed. He regrets it. He knows it was stupid, and he knows that it’s the reason that he’s in this situation.” They don’t agree on much else and the sides argued their case Thursday in a federal courtroom, the third time in less than four weeks over whether Gabehart should be barred from working on Spire’s Cup program for 18 months. There was no decision on whether a preliminary injunction would be issued to keep Gabehart from performing similar duties at Spire as he has at JGR. No surprise: The two sides are in dispute on whether Gabehart’s role as Spire Chief Motorsports Officer is different than his role as JGR competition director. This comes down to, according to JGR attorney Thomas Melsheimer in his presentation Thursday, to Spire, which has one Cup win in its history, trying to snatch what has made JGR so successful with 70 wins in the time since Spire began competing. “Spire wanted to take his knowledge and take our hard work,” he told the judge, adding that Gabehart could make millions more at Spire. “What are they buying for that extra money?” [INSIDE THE GARAGE: Just How Bad do Drivers Want to Beat Former Teammates?] Gabehart has agreed not to give JGR confidential information to Spire — he and Spire dispute the JGR allegation that he has — that would also be part of the injunction sought by JGR. This isn’t the first time that a race team has tried to keep an employee from leaving. But this is the most contentious case dealing with a top competition executive — a big enough deal that JGR hired a private investigator to follow Gabehart. Why did JGR go to such lengths? “JGR does not want to be here,” JGR attorney Sarah Hutchins told the court at the initial temporary restraining order hearing. “JGR seeks only the respect its decades of investment, energy time and effort have earned. “Key employees like Mr. Gabehart had access to the keys to the kingdom.” That’s the way teams look at their engineering and race data — it’s their “kingdom.” JGR had another employee leave a couple years ago where it suspected theft of its information and although it never made it to federal court, it is apparent that JGR wants to put a stop to it. And this isn’t an engineer taking a setup. It is an employee who spent decades at JGR and was its competition director. The much-heralded Gabehart is considered one of the brightest minds in the garage. Denny Hamlin had Gabehart as his crew chief and was upset when Gabehart moved to a competition role. But Hamlin was there in court earlier this month and it’s clear what side he’s on. “This information represents the crown jewels of our racing operation,” Hamlin said in a declaration submitted on behalf of JGR. JGR scoffs at such a characterization that Spire doesn’t want the JGR info. It alleges that Gabehart didn’t just take technical information but also info on sponsors and salaries that would relate to his role as Spire’s Chief Motorsports Officer. And while there is no specific information that JGR can show flowed from Gabehart to Spire just yet, JGR points to Gabehart deleting text messages with Dickerson from before Nov. 15 as a sign that he was doing something uncouth, especially because he didn’t delete text messages from others in the same period. Gabehart argues in court documents that he had no reason to think as of Nov. 15 that there would be a need to keep those tech messages. They discussed a spreadsheet at the hearing Thursday, a spreadsheet that analyzed driver performance and had a Spire logo with info on Spire drivers. It was very similar, according to the JGR attorneys, to the one used at JGR. Spire executives say they have no record of developing that sheet, and the judge wondered aloud that if Gabehart creted the sheet — before he had even joined the team — how are his duties at Spire not similar to those at JGR. That is the biggest issue on whether Gabehart should be allowed to continue working for Spire. Gabehart’s attorney characterized his role as CMO as one of a head coach or general manager, while his role at JGR was more like an offensive coordinator. Dickerson also points out that Spire has a sprint-car team, a late model team in addition to a truck team. But JGR notes that Gabehart’s compensation at Spire directly correlates with the performance of Spire’s Cup program. Whether his role is similar is key to getting an injunction to keep him from working on the Spire NASCAR program. The potential release of confidential information is more of the backbone of what could be determined at a trial. “I don’t think you can divorce the company from the man,” Melsheimer told the court. JGR has asked for a trial to be expedited in this case, and it appears Gabehart and Spire might want the same. It wants to subpoena executives of Trackhouse, Rick Ware Racing and Haas Motorsports — all Chevrolet teams — to see if they have gotten any of the JGR info. [NASCAR POWER RANKINGS: Many Changes But Not At The Top] The personal nature of the lawsuit also can’t be overlooked. Gabehart said he wanted to leave JGR in the first place because Ty Gibbs, the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs and son of co-owner Heather Gibbs (who plays a pivotal role in the company operations), is not held as accountable as the other drivers. That obviously did not sit well with members of the family whose name is on the door. That made the prospect of Gabehart staying at JGR untenable. And it’s no surprise that other teams would want Gabehart. That’s why he had an 18-month non-compete clause in his JGR contract. But the contract also has a provision where there is virtually no non-compete requirement. Gabehart argues that he met those provisions (JGR obviously disputes that) and that JGR stopped paying him before officially terminating him, which breached the contract. JGR argues that it paid Gabehart in accordance to his agreement and it stopped paying him while they were negotiating a separation agreement, a negotiation that turned sideways once it was found Gabehart had taken photos of JGR info. All the while feeling that Gabehart violated his agreement by negotiating with Spire as early as October. Dickerson argues that Gabehart and him have been friends for decades, and that Dickerson represented Gabehart when he first joined Kyle Busch Motorsports. He said there was no need for him to be followed, that they have nothing to hide, that they don’t want the JGR information and the photos of Gabehart and him having lunch at a spot where he frequents — and a block from Toyota’s driver workout center. But if they have nothing to hide, JGR wants to know why there are deleted text messages? Why does forensics of Gabehart’s devices show searches for terms and activities that appear to correlate with before and after meetings with Spire? And why doesn’t Spire just cut itself from Gabehart and end the headache? “They value the service that he was going to provide and they just see no reason to do anything different at this time,” Spire attorney Lawrence Cameron said outside the courtroom Thursday. Cameron stated in court Thursday that JGR is on am “allege first and seek evidence later” and that Spire’s reputation is being hurt by the continued litigation. It will be up to Judge Susan Rodriguez to decide. She has heard NASCAR cases before, including a Front Row-BK Racing trial a few years ago over a charter. “I hear it’s very hard to get a charter,” she quipped during the hearing Thursday. She indicated Thursday that JGR’s biggest hurdle in obtaining the injunction on whether it is likely to win the case on the merits. But she also has been skeptical of some of what she has heard from Spire (as is her role as a judge), and considering the admission of taking photos of confidential information and putting them in a folder called “Spire,” among other things, she has to wonder. “We’ve got a little bit of a credibility issue going on here,” she said at the first hearing. And that’s why someone hires a private investigator. The credibility of everyone seems to be in question. That often happens in lawsuits. But this one has big stakes: The keys to the kingdom. [READ MORE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Divulges Biggest Regret of Illustrious Racing Career]