In Defense of Jennifer Jo Cobb
In Defense of Jennifer Jo Cobb
By Brian Cotnoir
NASCAR Truck Series driver and team owner Jennifer Jo Cobb, gets a lot of disrespect, and I feel it's greatly undeserved. Since 2010 Jennifer Jo Cobb has run the majority of NASCAR Truck Series races. In that time, she has been the most successful female owner in NASCAR History. She's made 230 career starts in the NASCAR Truck Series; 226 of those starts came as an Owner-Driver.
Let's compare that to the stats of NASCAR's most well-known female driver, Danica Patrick. Danica Patrick has made 191 career starts in NASCAR's Cup Series with a career best finish of 6th place at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2014, which equals Jennifer Jo Cobb's career Best Finish in the Truck Series. Patrick's Career Average finish was 24th place in the Cup Series while Jennifer Jo Cobb's career average finish in the Truck Series is 25th place. In 2014, Jennifer Jo Cobb finished a career high 16th in the final drivers' standings. Her career average Points Finish in the Truck Series is 24th place.
I also think, Jennifer Jo Cobb doesn't get enough credit for doing all this, not only as an owner-driver, but with the limited resources she has. I know on-line has the "Oh No, Jennifer Jo" memes whenever she's involved in a wreck or a spin, but she still does better than other teams in the Truck Series. The facts are she still holds the majority of records for female drivers in the NASCAR Truck Series and doesn't deserve as much hate or criticism as she receives. Despite Popular misconception, she is not a start & park driver. With the exception of her last 2 (COVID effected) seasons she consistently runs in the Top 25, which while not impressive by any means, is still 7-10 place above last place finishers in the Truck Series. Her Xfinity/Grand National Series results are also nothing to get too excited about; her best career finish is 26th place, and in that time her Grand National Series career is best remembered for a 2011 race at Bristol where she refused to start the race after she was given orders team owner, Rick Russell, that she would not be allowed to run the full distance, and she refused to enter the race as a start & park.
What really sets Jennifer Jo Cobb apart from other female races of the past decade is she's run the majority of her races on her own with her own money. Jennifer Jo Cobb does not come from money, and she does not have backing from a big team or big sponsorships like other well-known female drivers Danica Patrick and Hailie Deegan have. She is an owner-driver making a name for herself in the sport with little no respect and support. Some of you may--or may not--remember back in 2013 fellow competitor, Mike Harmon and his associates were charged with stealing 5 NASCAR Trucks and 2 Grand National cars from Jennifer Jo Cobb. Cobb's assets were returned to her and charges against Harmon were dropped. All these reasons are why I feel Jennifer Jo Cobb deserves a lot of credit and praise for what she has accomplished in NASCAR not only as a driver, but an owner as well.
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