Key Takeaways
- A North Carolina jury ordered former NASCAR driver Jennifer Jo Cobb to pay Tracey Hughes $850,002 over an alleged affair with Hughes’ then-husband, Clayton Odie Hughes.
- Hughes alleged that Cobb helped conceal the relationship and won $800,000 for criminal conversation, $50,000 for alienation of affection, and $2 in punitive damages.
- Cobb, who once held the record for the best finish by a woman in NASCAR’s Truck Series, has disputed the outcome, saying, “This isn’t over. The judgment has not been entered.”
Former NASCAR driver Jennifer Jo Cobb has been ordered to pay more than $850,000 to a woman who accused her of having an affair with her husband and helping cover it up.
According to Fox 13, a North Carolina jury sided with Tracey Hughes, whose lawsuit alleged that Cobb’s relationship with her ex-husband, Clayton Odie Hughes, helped end their 17-year marriage. The verdict followed a three-day trial in Davidson County Superior Court.
Hughes’ accusations went beyond the affair itself. In the lawsuit she filed in 2024, she alleged that Cobb encouraged Clayton to lie about trips, helped him conceal the relationship, and arranged regular rendezvous in the months before the couple’s divorce.
Hughes sought damages under two claims: alienation of affection, concerning interference that destroys the love in a marriage, and criminal conversation, involving sex with another person’s spouse. Both allow a spouse to pursue an alleged affair partner for money.
Cobb built her name in NASCAR through years of competing while running her own team. She began racing at Lakeside Speedway in 1991, made her NASCAR debut in 2004, and later drove the No. 10 truck for Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing. Her sixth-place finish at Daytona in 2011 became the best finish by a woman in Truck Series history.
Natalie Decker broke that record with a fifth-place finish at Daytona in 2020. Cobb also competed in the Xfinity Series and last raced in the Truck Series in 2024.
Hughes’ complaint described the alleged affair in blunt terms, saying it “invaded and ended” the “exclusive rights and privileges” of her marriage. It also stated that “the marital bed was dishonored,” according to FOX Local’s account of the filing.
The criminal-conversation claim produced the largest award: $800,000. Jurors awarded another $50,000 for alienation of affection, then added $1 in punitive damages for each claim. That brought the total to $850,002, with nearly all of the money tied to the claim involving the alleged sexual relationship.
Cobb has indicated she plans to keep fighting the verdict, saying, “This isn’t over. The judgment has not been entered.”
