A North Carolina woman felt vindicated after NASCAR truck driver Jennifer Jo Cobb was ordered to pay her $850,000 over the affair that ended her marriage under the state’s homewrecker law.
“The lawsuit gave me power. It empowered me, it gave me focus. It gave me a job to do and stand up for myself,” Tracey Hughes told WFMY on Friday.
Hughes, who was awarded an eye-popping amount by a jury in her lawsuit against Cobb on Thursday, said her life was upended when Cobb allegedly broke up her 17-year marriage to Clayton Odie Hughes in January 2021.
“I felt like my whole world had just blown up,” Hughes told the outlet.
Hughes had filed the lawsuit in 2024, claiming Cobb, 53, “willfully, intentionally, and deliberately seduced, enticed, and alienated the affections” of her husband, leading to the affair that spanned several months.
She claimed Cobb had regularly texted her husband, including when the NASCAR driver was travelling to races to set up their next alleged sexual meet-ups.
Hughes sued Cobb under alienation of affection and criminal conversation, two common-law torts in very few states, including North Carolina.
“Alienation of affection is any wrongful act that a third party does to diminish the feelings of affection of one spouse for another, and it actually doesn’t require sex,” Hughes’ attorney, John Vermitsky, explained to the outlet.
Hughes had sought damages over $25,000 for both alienation of affection and criminal conversation, the legal term for adultery.
She also asked for over $25,000 in punitive damages.
A Davidson County jury sided with Hughes on Sept. 24, and awarded her $850,002 — $50,000 for alienation of affection and $800,000 for criminal conversation.
The jury also found Cobb was liable for $1 in punitive damages for each claim, adding to the remaining $2.
“It’s more important, I think, to be vindicated. The money figure was, I think, just a statement maybe by the jury,” Hughes said.
Hughes revealed the years-long lawsuit also took a toll on her because of the public-facing presence of the case.
“Your most private parts of your life are out there. I thought it would stop at the courtroom, but it’s gone a little bit more into the press,” she said.
The ruling has not been finalized, as Cobb says the final judgment has not been entered and post-trial motions are ongoing, WFMY reported, adding that the veteran NASCAR driver wanted to differentiate from the jury’s decision and any legal orders.
Cobb had competed in 256 races between NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Truck Series over a two-decade career.
She last competed at the 2024 Truck Series race in Kansas City for her own Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing team, where she finished 31st.
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