DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jennifer Jo Cobb failed to qualify for the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season opener. But for the former full-time driver, who runs her own independent race team, just making it to the racetrack was a victory in itself.
Daytona marked just the sixth time Jo Cobb has been back in a Truck since scaling back from full-time competition following the 2021 season. That marked the beginning of a rough two-year stretch through which her then-husband, Carlos Eduardo “Eddie” Troconi-Ortiz, wound up sentenced to prison for an assault that happened in the fall of 2021 at Talladega Superspeedway involving Cobb’s spotter at the time, Clayton Hughes.
The incident left Hughes, who was in a relationship with Cobb, battling permanent, disabling injuries. As the drama and resulting trial played out in public, the No. 10 truck mostly sat on the sidelines, qualifying for just two races since the start of 2022: at Kansas Speedway and Talladega.
“I went through some really tough personal stuff,” Jo Cobb said Friday (Feb. 16) after failing to make the race at Daytona. “I didn’t even have the desire to be at the racetrack, to be honest. But I knew I wasn’t done. It’s just… I had to heal. I really had to heal.”
Now, Jo Cobb is back, armed with a positive attitude and a fresh outlook on her future in the sport. While the No. 10 was 39th fastest out of 40 trucks looking to qualify, .227 seconds short of making the field, simply getting that speed out of the truck was impressive considering the limited budget and time away from the track.
“We had so many issues in practice,” Jo Cobb explained. “But I’m so proud of my team. There’s a lot of volunteers… and we [still] fixed them all. The car drove like a dream and we picked up almost a second.
“So, I think if we had had practice go well, it would have been fine. But every time I come to a race, every time I come to a track these past couple of years I’ve worked on perfecting the car.”
Jo Cobb also picked up financial backing from GAC Seeds, a contact she made at the track, and gained traction toward signing future sponsorship. Going forward, after turning age 50 last season her strategy in pursuing funding has changed, along with understanding the challenge.
“I’m getting there,” she said of her NASCAR return. “And I finally have that desire and that hunger to go after sponsors again. Because that’s what it’s going to…
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