NASCAR Driver Jennifer Jo Cobb Ordered to Pay $850,002 in North Carolina Affair Lawsuit

A North Carolina jury has ordered former NASCAR driver Jennifer Jo Cobb to pay $850,002 to Tracey Hughes over an affair Cobb had with Hughes' husband, Clayton Odie Hughes, back in 2020 and 2021.

The Davidson County Superior Court jury reached its verdict on September 24, 2026, after a three-day trial in Lexington, North Carolina, according to WBTV. Jurors awarded $800,000 for criminal conversation and $50,000 for alienation of affection, then tacked on $1 in punitive damages for each claim.

Hughes filed the lawsuit on January 5, 2024, three years after she and Clayton separated. North Carolina law requires these claims to be filed within three years of the defendant's last alleged act, and Hughes' filing came right up against that deadline, according to Autoweek.

Two Old Torts Still on the Books

North Carolina is one of just six states that still allow these lawsuits, alongside Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah, according to Autoweek. Criminal conversation requires proof the defendant had sex with the plaintiff's spouse during the marriage. Alienation of affection requires showing the defendant's conduct destroyed the love in that marriage.

Hughes' complaint alleged Cobb "willfully, intentionally, and deliberately seduced, enticed, and alienated the affections" of Clayton Hughes for several months before the couple's 17-year marriage ended in January 2021, according to WBTV. The suit claimed Cobb called and texted Clayton while traveling for races and arranged "regular trysts." It also alleged Cobb encouraged Clayton to lie about trips and helped conceal the relationship, according to Fox 13 News.

According to Heavy, Clayton Hughes worked as Cobb's longtime spotter on the NASCAR circuit, which is how the two knew each other in the first place.

Hughes' filing didn't hold back on language, stating the affair "invaded and ended" the "exclusive rights and privileges" of her marriage and that "the marital bed was dishonored," a phrase multiple outlets, including WKRC-affiliated local12.com and Complex, pulled directly from court records.

Cobb Fought the Suit and Lost, Says It Isn't Over

Cobb denied the allegations in her court response and tried to get the case thrown out in April 2024, arguing North Carolina's alienation-of-affection law is unconstitutional. Superior Court Judge Eric Morgan rejected that argument, along with Cobb's request to send the case to a three-judge panel in Wake County, in December 2024, according to Autoweek. Court-ordered mediation in January 2025 produced no settlement.

After the verdict, Cobb told the Winston-Salem Journal, "This isn't over. The judgment has not been entered," a statement reported by both Heavy and Complex. Autoweek notes either side can still file post-trial motions, and Cobb retains the right to appeal.

One detail largely absent from most coverage: Clayton Hughes, the man at the center of the affair, was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, according to the NY Post. Under North Carolina's law, the wronged spouse sues the third party, not the spouse who actually broke the marriage vows.

Breitbart additionally reported that Cobb was separated from her own husband of 11 years, Eddie Troconis, though it's not established in any source whether that separation happened before or after the alleged affair with Clayton Hughes.

The Case for and Against the Verdict

Critics of alienation-of-affection and criminal-conversation laws have long argued they're outdated tools that let a scorned spouse collect a payday from a third party while the actual spouse who cheated faces zero legal consequence. A marriage falling apart usually involves choices made by both people in it, and reasonable people can question whether it's fair to place six-figure liability on the affair partner alone.

Supporters of the law counter that it exists precisely because contract and tort law recognize marriage as a legal relationship, and someone who knowingly and deliberately interferes with it should answer for the damage, financial and otherwise, that follows. A Davidson County jury heard three days of testimony and evidence and sided unanimously with that view here.

Cobb built a notable career before this verdict, making 265 combined starts in NASCAR's Truck Series and O'Reilly Auto Parts Series between 2001 and 2024, with a career-best sixth-place finish at Daytona in 2011, according to WBTV. She last raced in 2024 and has not competed since.

Whether that $850,002 judgment actually gets entered, and whether Cobb appeals it, remains unresolved. No court date for any post-trial motion or appeal has been reported.