Here is Why Jennifer Jo Cobb Will Not Make Her NASCAR Cup Series Debut at Talladega

Published 04/21/2021, 7:30 AM EDT

A few days ago, reports emerged that Jennifer Jo Cobb would make her Cup Series debut at Talladega. However, new circumstances emerged that are preventing her from racing. Initially, she was expected to race for Rick Ware Racing in the #15 car. However, there are certain conditions that disqualify her from competing in the top flight.

As it turned out, Cobb notched up 11 lead-lap finishes in 217 Truck starts. Evidently, that was not enough to secure a Cup Series berth, and her incident at Richmond with Norm Benning did not help matters.

Jennifer Jo Cobb not approved by NASCAR to make her Cup debut this weekend at Talladega – only 11 lead-lap finishes in her 217 Truck starts cited as one performance metric in decision – last week's Richmond incident with Norm Benning had no bearing according to sanctioning body https://t.co/c0smZMR8k2
— Pete Pistone 😷 (@PPistone) April 19, 2021

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However, the NASCAR governing body has insisted that the incident did not affect their decision.

What did the team say about Jennifer Jo Cobb delaying her Cup debut?

The team’s statement read, “We’ve been informed by the sanctioning body that Jennifer is not approved to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway this coming weekend.

“This is an unfortunate situation, but as a team we support NASCAR’s decision to uphold the sanctioning (body’s) rules and regulations.”

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As per the Cup Series rules, drivers must outline their previous racing experience to the NASCAR Resume Committee. Only they have the power to approve of a driver for the competition. Another requirement is that the driver has to resubmit their Driver Information and Record application, which only applies if they have not competed for at least one year.

Despite her 217 Truck Series starts, her limited Xfinity Series experience came back to bite her, especially considering that she has only made 31 starts. Admittedly, Cobb has largely raced for underfunded teams, so she has not had a chance to shine. Her best finish in a Truck, at Talladega, in particular, was 11th in 2018. Aside from that, she has had a highest finish of sixth in 2011 at the Daytona International Speedway.

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Obviously, she will be disappointed to not get a chance to play in the big leagues. However, this setback will hopefully motivate her to perform better and help her earn a second chance.

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.