Tracey Hughes says a North Carolina jury’s verdict made her feel vindicated after a years-long legal battle.
Hughes, who spoke to WFMY on Friday, was awarded $850,002 by a Davidson County jury on Sept. 24 in her lawsuit against former NASCAR Truck Series driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, 53. The jury found Cobb liable for alienation of affection and criminal conversation after allegedly carrying on an affair with Hughes’ husband, Clayton Odie Hughes, that began in January 2021 and ended the couple’s 17-year marriage.
“The lawsuit gave me power. It empowered me, it gave me focus. It gave me a job to do and stand up for myself,” Hughes told the outlet.
Hughes filed suit in 2024, claiming Cobb “willfully, intentionally, and deliberately seduced, enticed, and alienated the affections” of her husband. The complaint alleged Cobb regularly texted Clayton Hughes, including while traveling to races, to arrange their next sexual encounters.
Hughes’ attorney, John Vermitsky, explained to WFMY that North Carolina is one of very few states that still recognizes the common-law torts. “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,” he said.
The jury broke down the award as $50,000 for alienation of affection and $800,000 for criminal conversation, the legal term for adultery. They also assigned $1 in punitive damages for each claim, accounting for the final $2.
Hughes had sought more than $25,000 for each of the three claims. She told WFMY the monetary figure mattered less than the validation.
“It’s more important, I think, to be vindicated. The money figure was, I think, just a statement maybe by the jury,” Hughes said.
The public nature of the case carried its own cost, Hughes revealed. “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 told the outlet.
“I felt like my whole world had just blown up,” Hughes said, describing the moment she learned of the affair in January 2021.
Cobb has contested the outcome. The veteran driver, who competed in 256 races across NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Truck Series over two decades, maintains the final judgment has not been entered and that post-trial motions remain ongoing. She sought to distinguish between the jury’s decision and any formal legal orders, WFMY reported.
Cobb last raced in the 2024 Truck Series event in Kansas City for her own Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing team, finishing 31st.
