On Monday, NASCAR confirmed that Cob has not been approved to compete on superspeedway tracks in the Cup Series thus would not be making her planned debut in Rick Ware Racing’s No. 15 Chevrolet.
While Cobb, 47, has made a combined 247 starts in the Xfinity and Truck series, a NASCAR spokesman told Motorsport.com that Cobb is only currently approved to compete on superspeedways in Trucks.
She previously had approval to compete in the Xfinity Series but since she has not made a start in the series since 2018, she would need to reapply for approval if she decided to run a superspeedway race in Xfinity.
According to the series’ rule books, “Any previously approved driver who has not competed for at least one year must resubmit the Driver Information and Record application.”
Among the reasons cited by NASCAR for not granting Cobb approval for her Cup debut is the fact she has only 11 lead-lap finishes in her 217 Truck starts.
A NASCAR spokesman said it wasn’t just the number of starts a driver makes but what they do in those races that affects the approval process.
Rick Ware Racing released the following statement regarding the 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.”