NASCAR rejects Jennifer Jo Cobb’s Cup Series debut

Jennifer Jo Cobb will not get to make her NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway after NASCAR stepped in.

It was confirmed last week that Jennifer Jo Cobb, who has been competing in NASCAR since 2004, would be making her Cup Series debut in this Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The 47-year-old Kansas City, Kansas native was set to pilot the #15 Chevrolet for Rick Ware Racing in this 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) high-banked oval in Lincoln, Alabama to become the 17th female to ever compete in a Cup Series race and the first to do so since Danica Patrick competed in the Daytona 500 in February 2018.

But that will not happen.

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Despite the fact that she has made 217 career Truck Series starts, including 16 in superspeedway races, and 31 career Xfinity Series starts, including four in superspeedway races, she remains only allowed to compete in Truck Series races at superspeedways.

Without newly acquired approval, she would not even be allowed to compete in an Xfinity Series race at a superspeedway since her most recent start in such a race came three years ago.

According to Section 3.11.1.1.b of the Cup Rule Book, a driver must outline his or her previous racing experience to the NASCAR Resume Committee, which will then determine if that driver is approved for competition.

It adds that “any previously approved driver who has not competed for at least one year must resubmit the Driver Information and Record application.”

Cobb’s application for approval, which she needed to submit due to having never previously competed in a Cup Series race, was ultimately rejected.

There is no 100% clear-cut criteria for such a decision, although one of the reasons NASCAR provided for making the decision was the fact that Cobb has finished off of the lead lap in 206 of her 217 career Truck Series starts. She also has no lead-lap finishes in her 31 Xfinity Series starts.

Here is what Rick Ware Racing had to say about this disappointing decision.

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

This is not the first time NASCAR has stepped in and not allowed somebody to make their Cup Series debut. In fact, it happened for a race at Talladega Superspeedway last year.

Last June, NASCAR prevented James Davison from competing at the sport’s top level for the first time over similar concerns, as making a series debut on a superspeedway with no practice was not deemed to be the best idea.

However, Davison had made just four career Xfinity Series starts at this point, and none had even come on ovals, much less on superspeedways.

Cobb has made 20 career superspeedway starts in her Xfinity Series and Truck Series career.

Rick Ware Racing’s new driver for the chartered #15 entry in Sunday’s race has not yet been determined, but the car is locked into the 40-car field.

The GEICO 500 is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Talladega Superspeedway beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, April 25.