Before Saturday's Scotts 300 began at Bristol Motor Speedway, driver Jennifer Jo Cobb elected to get out of her car rather than "start and park" it, as her team owner asked her to do.
Following her decision to not participate in the race, Cobb released the following statement explaining her actions:
"It feels like such a 'Jerry Maguire' moment. There were rumblings all week about us start and parking this race. I have a commitment to my sponsors, my fans, NASCAR that I won't start and park. I'm very serious about my career and my performance, and I've worked hard to prove it to everyone. The conversation was never had with me until 10 minutes before the race that I was to start and park. I had already bought tires for the race, so you can imagine that this was a blow to my principles and my finances to get this news.
"As the owner of 2nd Chance, he has the right to ask NASCAR to black flag me and said he would do that if I didn't comply. There were also rumors that he was going to surprise me and take me out of the car at California. We have a five race agreement that says I am racing for him, which is why I decided to collect Nationwide Series points and not Camping World Truck Series points.
"Because of those promises, I made decisions accordingly for my career. So after thinking about it for a few minutes, which there weren't many, I made a decision to walk away. I thank God for giving me the strength to do that. Sometimes that is the best thing to do. I just felt like I owed it to my fans and my sponsors that I'm seeking and to NASCAR that if I say, 'I'm here to race,' that I go out and race."
