Fourth At Bristol Gives Love Momentum Entering Playoffs

Jesse Love (Jacob Seelman photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Jesse Love put together one of his solidest NASCAR Xfinity Series performances of late on Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, finishing fourth and carrying momentum into the playoffs.

Love, the 19-year-old rookie sensation from Menlo Park, Calif., qualified 10th and was only outside the top 15 for one lap all race in the Food City 300, with a stout No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro allowing him to make moves all around the .533-mile concrete high banks of The Last Great Colosseum.

Surging from 10th to second in the first 85-lap stage, Love looked like he might have race-winning pace in the first half, before varying strategies shuffled him back somewhat for the final stage.

Undeterred, Love charged through most of the frontrunners in the final 100 laps, ending up with his first top five since the Chicago (Ill.) Street Course in early July and his fourth straight top-10 finish.

It allowed him to secure seventh place in the final regular season standings, rewarding Love with four extra playoff points for his postseason total.

“We had a fast No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet at Bristol Motor Speedway. Our car fired off well and we were able to drive up to second by the end of stage one,” Love said. “Danny Stockman (crew chief) made good changes to the car each stop and our pit crew was solid all night. Mid-race, our car started to get tight in the center of the corner and I was losing time [going] into turn one. But on our next pit stop at the end of stage two, we put the changes back into the car that we started the race with, and our Chevrolet came to life.

“I could run the bottom all night where our car was the strongest. We gained stage points tonight and I feel confident going into the playoffs,” Love continued. “I’m very proud of the effort from our Richard Childress Racing team and look forward to Kansas Speedway next weekend.”

Had it not been for badly-timed slower traffic in the latter part of the race, Love believed he had a shot to fight for even more.

“I really thought we were going to have a shot at the [No.] 00 [Custer] there. We just hit lap traffic. So weird how the dirty air was such a big factor,” he noted. “And it’s not like lap traffic does anything wrong. It’s just where one little hiccup costs you, and here three tens is so big. So, it was hard to manage that, but next time I come back I think I’ll have a better game plan for it.”

Love enters the playoffs as the sixth seed, with 13 playoff points in the bank, courtesy of an April win at Talladega (Ala.) Speedway and four stage wins in addition to his regular season position bonus.

Though he’s a rookie making his debut in the postseason, Love tipped he’s staying as calm and collected as possible in his pursuit of a potential championship for Richard Childress Racing.

“My thought process has always been the same. For the last year and a half, Billy Venturini (Love’s former ARCA owner) taught me not to overdo the day and to just sit down and focus on the execution,” he explained. “Focus on what gets us back to winning races. Don't focus on winning races [because] that does nothing for you. I’m not focused on ‘I have to get to [the championship race in] Phoenix and I have to win races to get there. All I care about is going to the racetrack and doing the best job that Jesse Love can do.

“I’m focused on maximizing each day and I think, if we do that, we’re good enough to get there [to the Championship 4],” Love stated. “I think if we get to Phoenix with a shot to win the championship, I can lay it all on the line and go for broke.”

How does Love feel that the three tracks – Kansas Speedway, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, and the Charlote (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL – suit his chances to move through the opening playoff round?

“I’m cautiously confident,” he said. “Talladega, we won there in April, and Kansas I won last year [in the ARCA Menards Series, so those are obviously two good tracks for me, I feel like. I have a lot of confidence at both of them. I think my real test will be the Charlotte ROVAL. I started my prep for that race right after Watkins Glen, so I’m putting a lot of emphasis on that right now.

“But we’ll just take this a moment at a time and cross each bridge as it comes. We’re excited, for sure.”

Love and the Xfinity Series playoff contenders will kick off the postseason with the Kansas Lottery 300, the opening race of the Round of 12, at Kansas Speedway.

Broadcast coverage is slated for Saturday, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. ET, live on CW Network, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.