- Denny Hamlin takes a brutal shot at Spire and owner Jeff Dickerson.
- He went beyond the lawsuit claims and dredged up past ghosts too.
- JGR co-owner Heather Gibbs also weighed in on Dickerson’s comments.
The Joe Gibbs Racing–Gabehart legal case took a turn when JGR brought Spire Motorsports into the situation. Spire Motorsports owner Jeff Dickerson has stood his ground. In a recent appearance on Jeff Gluck’s “Gluckcast,” he pushed back.
He said the team has been accused without cause and that it has yet to mount its full response against JGR.
However, the remarks did not go unanswered. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin weighed in, firing back in public and laying out his stance.
Denny Hamlin replies brutally to Dickerson’s comments
During his appearance on Gluck’s podcast, Dickerson aimed to tell what he sees as a narrative from JGR. He suggested that Spire’s recent success at Talladega, where Carson Hocevar won his first Cup race, was due to the data and the hiring of Gabehart.
He said, “We’ve done everything the right way. We have taken no shortcuts. So when we hear in court that we’re trying to take a shortcut, it’s tough. It’s tough to hear sometimes.
“Even Monday, they’ve filed something after the win, and essentially it was linking it back to Chris. And 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, right, 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 that’s won 320 races.”
“Leaking info?”
Dickerson added that it is hard to sit in court and be labelled a liar and a cheat.
“We don’t need their stuff. We don’t want their stuff. I didn’t ask for their stuff.”
While he made it clear that the team is ready to fight the case in court, he noted that the process has taken a toll.
After a clip of the interview surfaced on X, Hamlin responded in blunt terms. Addressing Dickerson’s comments, he wrote:
“Yeah, okay, buddy. You hired someone who stole tens of millions worth of information, lied about communications y’all had after you deleted them and now is getting paid double to work on your truck program? GTFO. What was it you called Richard again? Was it you who was leaking information after RTA calls?”
Interestingly, Hamlin’s post did not succumb to the lawsuit. It also referenced a past remark by Dickerson, who had called Richard Childress a “cuck” after an appearance with Donald Trump at the 2024 Coca-Cola 600. Hamlin also accused Dickerson of “leaking information after RTA calls,” – a possible reference to the 2024 charter talks between the Race Team Alliance and NASCAR.
Heather Gibbs has also issued a statement after Jeff Dickerson’s comments
Hamlin was not alone in responding to Dickerson’s claims that the lawsuit was aimed at tearing down his team and diminishing its workforce.
Heather Gibbs, co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, addressed the matter in a statement to The Athletic. “Joe Gibbs Racing was founded on the guiding principle of valuing people above all else within our organization, and the entire NASCAR community. We’re not here to diminish anyone. Drivers like Carson Hocevar are exactly what NASCAR needs. I couldn’t be more of an advocate for young drivers coming into the series.”
“In terms of the lawsuit, our singular purpose is to protect our trade secrets- the most important information that our race team (and any race team for that matter) possesses, particularly in this era of Next Gen cars. These trade secrets have been created through the hard work and innovation of JGR’s talented employees over the past 35 years as we built our race team from the ground up.”
She said those same trade secrets were taken by a former employee, Chris Gabehart, in a manner designed to avoid detection. Within days of that act, Spire offered that employee a role and brought him on board. She stressed that the case is not about personal disputes, but about standing up for employees, partners, and the integrity of the garage.
Heather added that the team believes in accountability, which is why it has taken this path. The aim, she said, is not to tear others down, but to stand for what is right. Also, to protect the base on which the sport stands, so that teams, drivers, and fans can trust the fairness of competition.
