Female NASCAR driver forced to pay $850,000 in 'homewrecker' suit after affair with married man

A NASCAR driver must now pay $850,000 under North Carolina’s "homewrecker law" after her romantic involvement with a married man allegedly contributed to the collapse of his 17-year marriage.

Jennifer Jo Cobb, a 53-year-old racer in the truck series, was found liable to Tracey Hughes for a relationship she allegedly carried on for several months with Hughes' husband, Clayton Odie Hughes.

In the suit she filed in 2024, Tracey Hughes argued that her husband's hidden relationship with Cobb was what drove the formerly "happily married" pair apart in 2021, WBTV reported. According to the complaint, the longtime driver "willfully, intentionally, and deliberately seduced, enticed, and alienated the affections" of Clayton Hughes away from his wife. 

The filing claimed that while Cobb competed in NASCAR's O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and Truck Series between 2001 and 2024, she kept in touch with Clayton Hughes through phone calls and text messages while on the road for events, and that the two arranged "regular trysts."

Tracey Hughes "suffered the loss of support, injury to [her] feelings and reputation, and had her marital relationship destroyed,” the lawsuit claimed.

On Thursday, jurors in the case ruled in favor of Tracey Hughes, granting her $850,000 over her claim of the criminal conversation and her claim of alienation of affection. Clayton Hughes was not a party in the suit himself. 

North Carolina is one of a handful of states where people can be sued over claims that wrongful or malicious conduct wrecked a marriage. The law also requires that the lawsuit be filed within the three years of the actions taken by the defendant to wreck the marriage.

In a separate case, a judge recently ruled that Senator Krystem Sinema can be sued under North Carolina’s homewrecker law over her relationship with a member of her security detail.