Jesse Love: ‘I thought we had it’
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Jesse Love will have to wait at least one more week for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win.
The Richard Childress Racing rookie driver restarted fourth on the final restart in NASCAR Overtime Saturday at Phoenix Raceway with an opportunity to challenge for the win.
Love moved to second-place on the final lap, eventually falling to race winner Chandler Smith by about three car lengths.
“I thought I had it, 100 percent,” Love said to The Racing Experts. “I have a lot of confidence on restarts, and when that caution came out I was like ‘It’s mine!’
“…We needed to have a good run and have a drama free day.”
Love, who has already won two poles this season (Daytona and Atlanta), earned his first career Top-10 and Top-5 finish with his runner-up result.
Love started seventh and scored stage points in the race’s first two stages.
As for the restart, if there had been five more laps, could that have made a difference for Love?
“I’m a man of God, and I’m not going to question reality, so not sure,” Love said.
After the first four races of the season, Love is fifth in driver’s points, 39 points ahead of the Xfinity Series playoff cutline.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.