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Last week, a North Carolina jury ordered NASCAR driver Jennifer Jo Cobb to pay $850,000 to a woman who had accused Cobb of having an affair with her husband. In a complaint filed in 2024, Tracey Hughes alleged Cobb had “willfully, intentionally, and deliberately seduced, enticed, and alienated the affections” of her then-husband, Clayton Hughes, for “several” months prior to their separation in January 2021. Hughes also claimed that, while traveling for races, Cobb had conducted “regular trysts” with Clayton, prior to which the couple had been “happily married.” Cobb has denied the allegations, and in April 2024, her request to dismiss the case was denied by the court. After the verdict, Cobb told the Winston-Salem Journal, “This isn’t over. The judgment has not been entered.”
Hughes initially sought $50,000 in damages — $25,000 for counts of both alienation of affection and criminal conversation as well as more than $25,000 in punitive damages. After reviewing “sexts,” emails, and phone calls, a jury found Cobb liable on both counts and ordered her to pay Hughes a total of $850,000. Hughes’s ex-husband was not listed as a defendant, and it’s unclear if she is seeking legal action against him.
Hughes and her lawyers invoked an archaic law that dates back to the 19th century, when husbands legally owned their wives — essentially making the case that conducting an affair is akin to stealing a neighbor’s property. The law remains in effect only in Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah, and only a few cases per state make it to court each year. It gained widespread attention in 2025 when a North Carolina woman sued influencer Brenay Montague for allegedly ruining her marriage. A jury ordered Montague to pay her new husband’s ex-wife $1.75 million, the full amount she had been sued for. In late 2024, former Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema was sued under the same law when the ex-wife of her former bodyguard accused her of having an affair that broke up the marriage. Earlier this month, a federal judge shot down Sinema’s motion to dismiss the suit, which is ongoing.
Cobb married her former crew chief, Eddie Troconis, in 2015, though they are currently separated. In 2022, Troconis was convicted of felony assault for attacking Clayton Hughes on the side of Talladega’s Superspeedway in Alabama the year before. Cobb was rumored to have been dating Clayton at the time of Troconis’s arrest.
In a statement sent to The Cut, Cobb emphasized that “the matter remains before the court,” adding, “I respect the court and the judicial process and intend to allow that process to proceed before making any further public comment.”
This post has been updated.
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