Jennifer Jo Cobb

Jennifer in 2013

Jennifer is an experienced stock car racer and now, team owner, who has competed extensively in the NASCAR Truck series.

She began racing in local NASCAR-sanctioned stock car events in 1991, in her home state of Kansas. Her interest in motorsports began young; since she was eight, she wanted to be a professional racing driver. When she was 18, she started racing in the Pony Stock division at her local track. Between 1991 and 1996, she won five feature races.

For the next three seasons, she raced in the Charger Division of the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series, at the Lakeside circuit in Kansas, and the I-70 track in Missouri. She picked up three more outright wins, before moving up to Late Models, and winning four more feature races in 2000 and 2001.

In 2002, she made the upward and somewhat sideways move in to ARCA stock car racing, which is separate, although similar, to the NASCAR family. After some training and some promising tests at Daytona, she took part in her first ARCA race, at the Kansas circuit. Her car was a Chevrolet, and she was 16th.

2003 was a much quieter year, with much of it given over to working as a driving instructor, which allowed Jennifer to learn other tracks. She had a go at the Kansas ARCA race again, but could not finish, despite making her way to midfield from the very back.

ARCA was a happier hunting ground in 2004. She managed three top-ten finishes, at Kansas, Nashville and Chicagoland, the best of these being a seventh at Nashville. At the end of the season, she made her debut in the NASCAR Busch Series, at Homestead-Miami, but did not finish.

Although she carried on as a performance driving instructor, the next two seasons did not feature much in the way of racing. She qualified for the Kansas Busch Series race in 2006, but was taken out by another driver. The following year, she did one ARCA race at the circuit, and was 25^th, in a Chevrolet.

At about this time, Jennifer launched her own line of motorsport-themed clothing for women, Driver Boutique. Driver Boutique’s proceeds helped her to get back into big-league racing, and acted as her major sponsor.

2008 saw another debut. Jennifer took part in her first NASCAR Craftsman Truck race, finishing 33^rd after a blown engine at Kansas. Later in the season, she was 27^th, at Kentucky. In between, she made guest appearances in ARCA and the Nationwide Series, once driving for Derrike Cope’s team.

The next season was similar in terms of scheduling, although Jennifer did not finish either of her Craftsman Truck races, one of those being at Talladega. She did not finish the Kansas ARCA round, either.

After several years of one-off drives in the Busch Series and ARCA, she put together a deal for a large proportion of the Camping World Truck series in 2010, driving a Ford for her own team. Her best finishes were two fourteenth places, and she was 17th overall. Driving for other team owners, she made some appearances in ARCA and the Nationwide Series, scoring a 17^th place in ARCA, at Daytona.

The following year, she made a double attack on the Truck and Nationwide series, with a better record in the Nationwide championship, where she was 29^th, and a contender for Rookie of the Year. Her car was a Rick Ware Racing Ford. However, her best overall finish was sixth, in the first round of the Truck series, at Daytona. This was a highest-ever finish for a female driver at the time, in any major NASCAR series. Her twelve races yielded another three top-twenty finishes, near the end of the season.

In 2012, she concentrated on the Truck series again, and was 27th. Her best finish was 16^th, at Kentucky. As well as this, she ran two cars for her own team in Trucks, for herself and either Jake Crum or Tim J. Bell.  

She did 16 races in 2013, in which she had a best finish of 17th, at Kansas. Unfortunately, her finishing record this year was not good, and her season was further compromised by a legal battle with former business partners and her ex-boyfriend, over team property. Her final finishing position was 25^th. She was also 26th in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kansas, in one of her regular guest appearances in the championship.

Her schedule in 2014 was similar, with most of the year spent in Trucks. Her finishing record was much improved, and she had a best finish of thirteenth, at Kansas. This, and her two other top-twenty positions, gave her 16^th in the championship. Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing remained a two-car team, with the other seats taken by Caleb Roark, Matt Tifft and Willie Allen, at different parts of the season.

Her guest appearance in the Nationwide Series, also at Kansas, yielded a 24th place. 

In 2015, she continued to race in the Camping World Truck Series, and achieved six top-twenty finishes. The best of these was an 18th place, in her first race of the season, at Daytona. She was 17th in the championship. This was despite being put on probation for protesting after a crash at Dover.

She equalled her 2015 highest finish in the 2016 Truck championship with a seventeenth at Michigan. Overall, her season had more disruption than previously, with more DNFs and a few non-starts. She was 30th in the championship. In October, she made a guest appearance in the NASCAR Xfinity series at Kansas, in a Rick Ware Chevrolet Camaro. She was 29th overall.

She had rather a forgettable season in Trucks in 2017. She only finished seven out of her eighteen races, due to a variety of mechanical and technical problems. Her best finishes were two eighteenth places, at Pocono and Las Vegas.

In 2018, she made one appearance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving for JP Motorsports. She finished 29th at Talladega from second-last on the grid. Earlier in the season, she had competed in Spain in the Elite 2 class of the Whelen Euro NASCAR Series, finishing 17th and 19th in a Chevrolet.

She did most of the Trucks series in 2019, in a Chevrolet. Her best finish was 18th at Fort Worth, from the back of the grid. She also travelled to Europe for the Euro NASCAR series again, this time competing in Elite 1 at Brands Hatch for Alex Caffi Motorsport. She was 27th in both her races.

The 2020 Truck season started in round three for Jennifer, at Charlotte, as she had not qualified for the first two races. She was 26th, only one lap down. The next round at Atlanta was a disaster and she was pulled off track for not keeping up with the field. Homestead was better and she was 27th overall. This was her second-best result of the season, the best being a 24th place at Fort Worth. 

She continued in Trucks in 2021, running for almost a full season. She did not qualify for the Austin or Phoenix races and withdrew from Nashville. The Daytona opener was her best race: she qualified 16th and finished 18th. Knoxville was also a positive race. She finished 25th, having started right at the back in 40th.

A planned part-season in Trucks for 2022 was not the biggest success: after not qualifying at Daytona or Nashville, Jennifer got on to the grid at Talladega, only for the clutch to go at about three-quarters distance. She did not qualify at Talladega again in 2023, but was recorded as a finisher at Kansas, in 34th place.

Jennifer uses her media profile to support a number of good causes, including her own organisation, Driven2Honor. This charity champions American servicewomen.

(Image from http://americancarsamericangirls.com)

The women of NASCAR

Tammy Jo Kirk and crew

Female drivers have been a feature of NASCAR and its associated series since 1949. A few pioneering drivers achieved success early on, but the NASCAR route has proved a challenging one for most of the women who have tried it. Below are short profiles of some of the ladies of NASCAR. Sara Christian, Louise Smith, Shawna Robinson, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Kat Teasdale, Diane Teel, Deborah Renshaw, Robin McCall, Hila Paulson Sweet and Patty Moise have their own profiles. Drivers who started their careers after 2000 can be found here. Although it is not part of the NASCAR family, the ARCA stock car series is included here, due to its similarity of machinery and venues.

Sherry Blakley - attempted to qualify for the Charlotte 250 round of the NASCAR Busch Series in 1994, but did not make the grid. Prior to this, she started 29 Goody’s Dash series races between 1991 and 1994, with a best championship finish of eighth in 1993, with two top-five finishes. She had been racing Late Models since at least 1988. During her career she was always adept at finding sponsorship, including Ramses condoms in 1994. Their publicity campaign involved promoting safe sex and giving out condoms at races and it was banned by NASCAR. Sherry retired a couple of years later and worked in a car dealership. She died in 2011, aged 48.

Ann Chester - one of NASCAR’s early female drivers, who took part in two Grand National races in 1950. She drove a Plymouth at the Vernon and Hamburg rounds, but did not finish either of them. The Plymouth’s engine failed at Vernon, and she crashed out of the Hamburg race. The Hamburg event was special, in that it was one of a handful of times that three women have raced in a top-level NASCAR event.

Tammy Jo Kirk - took part in NASCAR Craftsman Truck and regional events in the 1990s. She first came to prominence when she won the 1994 Snowball Derby in Florida, a NASCAR All Pro Series race. By 1996, she had moved up to the Busch Series, and won two pole positions. She was seventh overall. In 1997 and 1998, she drove in Craftsman Trucks, with a best finish of eleventh at Portland in 1997. Her sponsorship ended at the end of 1998, and she did not race again in NASCAR until 2003, when she returned to the Busch Series for Jay Robinson Racing. Her best finish was 21st, and she was not retained for the 2004 season. As well as NASCAR, she took part in some sportscar races, most notably the 1994 Daytona 24 Hours. She was 34th in a Porsche 911 with David Murry, Angelo Cilli and Anthony Lazzaro. Initially, she raced motorcycles on short tracks.

Teri MacDonald (Cadieux) - raced in a number of NASCAR and associated series between 1998 and 2005. During this time, she had part-seasons in ARCA and Craftsman Trucks, plus a single full season in CASCAR in 2001. Her best year in Trucks was 2002, with four races. Her CASCAR season yielded two top-ten finishes. In between, she drove in various ASA events, with rather a lot of non-finishes, but one top-twenty finish. Previously, she was involved in long-circuit racing in the USA and Canada, achieving some success at National level and earning awards as the highest-ranked woman driver in Canada. She retired in 2006 after the birth of her son, and now works in various motorsport-related fields.

Ethel Flock Mobley - early NASCAR racer and contemporary of Sara Christian. She began racing cars in “Powderpuff Derby” events for women drivers in the late 1940s. Her career began in earnest in 1949, when she entered and finished two NASCAR races, with a best finish of eleventh. In the other race, at Langhorn, she could only manage 44th. In addition to this, she took part in approximately 100 other races in the early 1950s, usually in the NASCAR Modified category. Her local track was the Atlanta Speedway, built by her brother, Bob Flock, and she normally competed there. She died in 1984.

Christi Passmore - has raced on and off in the ARCA series since 2002. In 2003 and 2004, she undertook major campaigns in this series, finishing eighth both times, driving a Ford. In 2004, she scored her only podium finish. In 2005, she only did thirteen races, which was not enough to mount any sort of challenge, and this dropped to one guest appearance in 2006. After that, she returned to ASCS events. This was how she began her career in 1998, based around the Knoxville track and its 410 Sprint series. She does not appear to have raced since 2010.

Arlene Pittman - started racing stock cars in 1985, aged fifteen. She worked her way up the local racing ladder, winning a championship in 1999. She started taking her racing more seriously after that, and began racing trucks in 2000. In 2002, she competed in both Truck races and the car-based NASCAR Goody’s Dash series. She was fifteenth in Goody’s Dash, out of 68 drivers. She retired from racing in 2003 after a serious accident during a Goody’s Dash event, although she did attempt to return, entering one more race after her crash. Now, she manages her own track and works extensively in motorsport PR.

FiFi Scott - took part in two Winston Cup races in 1955, at Phoenix and Tucson. She went out with a puncture before half-distance in the first race, but was classified in thirteenth place in the second. Her car was a Hudson, which she had previously used in Late Model races in 1954 and 1955, on the East Coast. Her best finish was twelfth, in the 1955 Walnut Creek race, driving a self-entered car.

Kelly Sutton – raced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series between 2003 and 2007, following a long career in club stock car racing and the NASCAR Goody’s Dash series, which included overall race wins at junior and senior level. Her first Truck season only consisted of four races, with a best finish of 19^th, at Homestead. In 2004, she expanded her programme to 19 races, and broke into the top twenty once, at Mansfield. This season was marred by accidents and mechanical problems. 2005 was a better year, with three top-twenty finishes, including a fifteenth place at Charlotte. Despite a shorter season in 2006, with fewer good finishes, she still managed to lead her first lap, at Kansas, although she crashed out later. In her final year of Trucks, she only took part in three races, and was 20^th at Milwaukee. Since then, she has not raced. Throughout her career, she has raced for her family team, Sutton Racing. She is notable for being the only NASCAR driver who competed actively with MS.

Bonnie West - possibly the first woman to win a NASCAR-sanctioned Late Model race in 1975. She won a feature race at Langley Speedway, Virginia in June. She was the biggest female rival to Diane Teel and the two squared up in a match race together at Langley in 1977. Both were regulars at Langley, although they often competed in different divisions. Bonnie’s career ended abruptly in 1977 when she was convicted of car theft, alongside her husband, and jailed for five years.

Martha Wideman - raced stock cars in the USA in the 1970s. She competed in one round of the USAC Stock Car Series in 1976, finishing 20th at Texas World Speedway in a 1974 Dodge Charger. She was meant to race at Mid-America Raceways the following month, but did not start. She had been driving in short-oval stock car races on her own account since 1972, having been active for some years previously racing her husband’s car under his license, as women were not allowed and the “powder puff derby” events for women no longer challenged her. IMCA allowed her to race and she did eventually earn a NASCAR license, although she never took part in a NASCAR race.   

(Image copyright Fox News)