EDDIE TROCONIS - 03/12/1979
A Mexican stock car racing crew chief who currently works for Young's Motorsports, serving as crew chief of the team's ARCA program. Before becoming a crew chief, Troconis was previously a driver, and competed in the NASCAR Mexico Series and also attempted to qualify for one race in the Xfinity Series in 2006. Prior to driving and crew chiefing in NASCAR, Troconis drove in the Indy Lights, Formula Three, and Formula Vee Series. He is a two-time Mexican Formula Three International champion (winning titles in 1999 and 2002) and a Rookie of the Year Award winner in the Formula Vee Series (1995) and Indy Lights de las Americas (2000). He is also the husband of Truck Series owner-driver Jennifer Jo Cobb, who he previously crew chiefed for in 2012. Cobb raced one race in the Xfinity series in 2012, and it was Troconis first time on top of the pit box calling the shots. When Cobb decided to focus on her Truck Series operation that year, the team did not attempt any races for many months and he joined Eddie Sharp Racing as crew chief for Justin Loftin (five races) and Mike Skinner (one race) in 2012. In 2014, he moved over to Kyle Busch Motorsports as an engineer, and was promoted to crew chief of their
#54 truck, driven by Christopher Bell, Gray Gaulding, and Matt Tifft, towards the end of the season when Shannon Rursch left the team. KBM shut down the #54 truck in 2016, and Troconis went to ThorSport Racing to crew chief Cameron Hayley and the #13 truck. After all of their drivers except for Matt Crafton had winless seasons and missed the playoffs in 2016, ThorSport shook up their crew chief lineup the following year and Troconis moved from the #13 to the #27 of Ben Rhodes. He and Rhodes did qualify for the playoffs and they won the race at Las Vegas that year. Their race-winning truck from that race was nicknamed "marshmellow", as it was one of the trucks that was burned in ThorSport's shop fire in 2015 but rebuilt afterward. The two remained together in 2018, and they won another race at Kentucky, Rhodes' home track, which qualified them for the playoffs for the second straight year. They were eliminated before the final Championship race and finished eighth in the points. In 2019, Troconis left ThorSport after three years with the team, going to AM Racing as the crew chief for the #22 truck driven by Austin Wayne Self. This marriage did not produce a single Top 10 finish. Towards the end of the 2020 Truck Series season, Troconis would leave AM Racing for Sam Hunt Racing, a part-time team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, to crew chief Mason Diaz in the team's #26 Toyota Supra; which accounted for just two starts. In 2021, Sam Hunt Racing replaced Troconis with former Jeremy Clements Racing crew chief Andrew Abbott, leaving Troconis looking for work. He would later join Young's Motorsports as crew chief of the team's ARCA and Truck Series programs. Eddie Troconis was charged with assaulting Clayton Hughes on Oct. 2, 2021, in the infield at Talladega Speedway. At the time of the incident, Troconis was a crew chief for one of the teams in the truck race series. His wife, Jennifer Jo Cobb, is a driver in that series for a different team. They were still legally married, but Troconis and Cobb had been separated for quite some time. Hughes was working for Cobb as a spotter. Troconis came up behind Hughes, punching him in the back or side of the head and then kicking him repeatedly in the arms and torso before kicking him at least once in the head. As a result of the beating, Hughes suffered likely permanent injuries that continue to cause him difficulty with walking, lifting and fine motor skills. Troconis is now from one to ten years in prison for his conviction of felony assault. He will be formally sentenced on Feb. 27, 2023 at 9 a.m.
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