Denny Hamlin Reacts to Spire’s Social Media Jab at Joe Gibbs Racing

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Denny Hamlin Reacts to Spire’s Social Media Jab at Joe Gibbs Racing

Originally posted on RFKRacingDigest
By Sanskriti Pastor | Last updated Apr 30, 2026 9:41 AM ET

Denny Hamlin delivered a short but blunt response to Spire Motorsports after they decided to troll Joe Gibbs Racing online. Following Carson Hocevar’s big win at Talladega, Spire tried to use the moment to poke fun at their active legal battle with JGR.

For the unversed, the two teams are involved in an $8 million federal lawsuit. JGR claims their former competition director, Chris Gabehart, took confidential data with him when he left to join Spire. While JGR has proven that Gabehart had sensitive info on his personal devices, they still have yet to prove that he passed that on to Spire.

After Hocevar’s win, Spire’s official X account decided to lean into the drama by posting a mock legal document signed by owner Jeff Dickerson. The post joked that the court record should be updated to show the team now has two wins instead of one. This was a jab at JGR, who had repeatedly pointed to Spire’s lack of more than one Cup win in court filings.

Denny Hamlin, a veteran at Gibbs, didn’t find the joke funny at all and fired back with a single word. “Idiots,” he wrote.

Idiots
— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) April 28, 2026

Both Gabehart and Spire Motorsports have denied any theft of trade secrets. However, the timing of the joke might not have been the best, considering the seriousness of the unresolved lawsuit.

Moreover, ahead of the weekend, JGR announced they were planning to refile and update its lawsuit. Hamlin’s reaction makes it clear that some in the garage think Spire is playing a very risky game.

JGR questions Spire’s sudden rise in performance

Joe Gibbs Racing and Spire Motorsports aren’t aligned on the timeline for the trial. JGR wants the trial to begin on December 7 and get resolved before the 2027 season.

However, per Motorsport.com, Spire argues that the timeline is expedited for a fair defense. JGR’s counter-argument has been that Spire’s recent rise in performance should be proof enough to resolve the dispute. In a filing, JGR wrote:

“NASCAR commentators have openly noted that Spire—a team long regarded as a perennial back marker—now appears transformed. Suddenly, ‘everything’s looking up for them,’ with multiple cars qualifying inside the top 10.”

“As one analyst candidly acknowledged, there is a ‘rhyme and reason’ behind Spire’s newfound speed and ‘there’s a reason there’s a lawsuit going on,'” the filing read.

JGR believes this “implausible” leap in speed happens to line up perfectly with when Chris Gabehart joined the organization.

This article first appeared on RFKRacingDigest and was syndicated with permission.

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