Denny Hamlin absolutely dropped a bombshell on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast, calling Spire Motorsports an “unserious” organization, and the owner, Jeff Dickerson, took it as a direct warning. This whole thing blew up after a wild incident at Darlington involving Spire’s Carson Hocevar and Brad Keselowski, but there’s a much deeper game being played here, and it’s all tied back to a massive lawsuit.
Keselowski Spun, Hamlin Went Off, and the Lawsuit Explains Everything
The drama started at the Cook Out Southern 500. Toward the end of Stage 1, Carson Hocevar made contact with Brad Keselowski, sending Keselowski spinning. Hocevar was super tight-lipped after the race, just saying, “I don’t know. He spun.” Keselowski, though? He was absolutely fuming, firing off, “His day’s coming and it’s coming hard. Watch out, Carson.” Hocevar’s only response was that he’d “tighten his belts.” But that’s not even the real story. Hamlin’s comments came right after this, where he didn’t hold back. “There’s no adults in the room, clearly, in that building. No adults. That’s my opinion. Because how can you honestly think that’s what’s best for your company if you’re running a serious organization? I think they’re unserious,” Hamlin blasted.
Now, Dickerson, talking on “The Gluckcast” with motorsports reporter Jeff Gluck, made it crystal clear why Hamlin was so quick to throw shade. Dickerson pointed out that Hamlin’s team, Joe Gibbs Racing, is in the middle of a lawsuit against Spire! So, yeah, he wasn’t shocked by Hamlin’s opinion at all. Dickerson said, “No [expletive] Denny’s going to say something like that. What do you want me to say? I mean, they’re suing us.” This whole legal battle started when Chris Gabehart, a former crew chief and competition director at JGR, moved over to Spire as their Chief Motorsports Officer before the 2026 season. JGR then sued Spire, claiming Gabehart is using “stolen intellectual property” to boost the organization. Talk about high stakes!
Dickerson Took Hamlin’s Jab As a Straight-Up Warning
Despite the public jab, Dickerson isn’t saying Hamlin doesn’t know his stuff. Quite the opposite, actually. Dickerson flat out said, “Denny absolutely knows what he’s talking about. Because I can tell you how I took it. I took it as a warning.” He connected it to past internal issues at JGR, even mentioning that Spire “ended up with Chris Gabehart because of things like this.” Dickerson recalled how Hamlin “publicly challenged” someone to talk to Ty Gibbs after tangling with him at the Chase race in New Hampshire last year. Dickerson sees Hamlin’s current comments toward Spire as the exact same kind of message.
Dickerson believes Hamlin has a “PHD in this” and that he won’t let what happened at JGR happen at Spire. He wished Hamlin had just texted or called him, but the message was received loud and clear. “Now, he could have texted me that. … However he sends the message. Denny, message delivered,” Dickerson stated. It’s clear Spire is now under the microscope, and with a lawsuit hanging over their heads and warnings flying from industry heavyweights like Hamlin, they’ve got a lot to sort out moving forward.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply