Jennifer Jo Cobb didn’t fly in a private plane or on a first-class flight to get Darlington this weekend
Instead, the Camping World Truck Series rookie drove from her home in Missouri with a stop in Nashville, Tenn., to save on travel costs. Those are the kinds of sacrifices Cobb is making in the first year of owning her own team.
Cobb, along with some help from investors, bought the trucks from the No. 10 Circle Bar Racing team and is running the full truck schedule for the first time in her career. Prior to this season, the 36-year-old had made only four starts in the series.
“I want to be an inspiration to people of what’s possible with so little. I think that can transfer to not just racing but other things in life,” said Cobb, the only female competing full time in any of NASCAR’s top three series.
While Cobb was able to buy the trucks, the technical support and engineering didn’t come along with it. Cobb says the team has only five full-time employees but has several volunteers who help out.
Still, Cobb said there are some weeks where she has to do little things like the accounting work and filling out the entry lists.
“All the things that need to be handled from a small-team perspective has been challenging,” Cobb said.
Cobb also doesn’t have a full-time sponsor for the car. Instead, she runs her clothing line, Driver Boutique and Drivenmale.com, on the truck each week.
Cobb came up with the idea for the clothing line, which caters to both female and male race fans, in 2006.
“It’s a fun side project and a nice distraction,” said Cobb, who also will run four Nationwide races this year. “I fill out the orders myself. We aren’t making a huge margin off it but I am so appreciative of the people who have bought stuff from us.”
Cobb also has faced her obstacles on the track. She admits she has been a little intimidated at some tracks like Dover but says she is starting to become more comfortable each week.
Cobb has four top-20 showings to her credit with a career-best 14th at Texas and Saturday at Darlington.
“We celebrate over top 20s and people think we are stupid. They have no idea what we are up against,” Cobb said.
Cobb has hopes of securing a sponsor for next year. If she doesn’t, she will likely have to shut down the operation.
“I get razzed up worrying about next season,” she said. “It would be a shame not to race next season. I can’t say how valuable it is and how much I’m learning. We can’t afford everything. We are young and don’t have experience but we have come a long way. That’s why I hope we can find a sponsor and do it again next year.”
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