A North Carolina jury has ordered former NASCAR driver Jennifer Jo Cobb to pay $850,002 following a civil trial centered on rare common-law tort claims, according to court records cited by The Auto Wire and WBTV. The verdict, delivered September 24 in Davidson County Superior Court, stems from a lawsuit filed by Tracey Hughes, the ex-wife of NASCAR spotter Clayton Hughes, as reported by Daily Downforce.
Jurors found for Hughes on every question presented during the three-day trial, awarding $800,000 for a claim of criminal conversation, $50,000 for alienation of affections, and $1 in punitive damages for each of the two claims, bringing the exact total to $850,002. Cobb denied the allegations in her answer to the lawsuit, and the verdict is not yet a final judgment pending post-trial proceedings or an appeal.
The Mechanics of ‘Heart Balm’ Torts
The lawsuit brought against the 53-year-old racing veteran highlights North Carolina’s status as one of a dwindling number of U.S. jurisdictions that still permit civil litigation involving “heart balm” torts. Criminal conversation functions as a civil claim turning on whether a defendant engaged in sexual relations with a plaintiff’s spouse while the marriage remained intact. Alienation of affections, by contrast, examines whether a defendant’s wrongful conduct destroyed the affection within the marriage.
In this case, the jury assigned a financial valuation to the sexual intercourse claim that was sixteen times greater than the award attached to the destruction of marital affection. Court filings indicate that Hughes accused Cobb of engaging in an affair during the months preceding her separation from her husband in January 2021, detailing phone calls, text messages, and meetings arranged while traveling across the racing circuit.
Legal Hurdles and Pretrial Challenges
Before reaching a jury, the litigation navigated substantial procedural challenges. In April 2024, Cobb moved to dismiss the action, arguing that North Carolina’s laws permitting such claims are unconstitutional and requesting review by a three-judge panel in Wake County. Superior Court Judge Eric Morgan denied both requests in December 2024.
The constitutional validity of these statutes has faced prior judicial scrutiny. In the 2017 case Malecek v. Williams, the North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed a lower ruling that had discarded similar claims, establishing that both torts survive First and Fourteenth Amendment challenges because the state retains a legitimate interest in preserving marital unions. State lawmakers narrowed the framework in 2009 by introducing a three-year filing limit and barring claims for conduct occurring after permanent separation, a timeline that allowed Hughes to file her complaint on January 5, 2024.
Financial Context and Next Steps
The multi-hundred-thousand-dollar verdict compares notably against career records from Racing-Reference, which indicate that across 265 national touring series starts, Cobb’s entries collected approximately $1.66 million in posted purse money. Racing observers note that as an owner-driver who fielded her own equipment across 234 Truck Series starts and 31 other national series events, those figures represent gross purse funds that covered tires, fuel, engines, and crew expenses rather than net personal income.
Legal proceedings remain ongoing. Neither side has completed collection, and Cobb retains the right to file post-trial motions or pursue an appeal once a final judgment is entered in Davidson County Superior Court.