‘Wholesale Changes’ Lift Love To Ninth At Kansas

Jesse Love (Rusty Jarrett/ Nigel Kinrade Photography)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie-of-the-year contender Jesse Love had what some might call “a chicken salad day” at Kansas Speedway, as it ended in a somewhat positive top-10 finish despite mid-race adversity.

Though Love started from seventh for the Kansas Lottery 300, it quickly became apparent that he was going to have to scratch and claw for any progress at the 1.5-mile oval, as the 19-year-old from Menlo Park, Calif., drifted back to 16th by the end of stage one and scored no points in either 45-lap segment.

When the race’s sixth and final caution flag waved with 56 laps left for a wayward tire at the exit of pit lane, crew chief Danny Stockman called Love in for “wholesale changes” to the No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro in an effort to build any possible momentum before the checkered flag.

As Love put it over the radio later, “throwing the kitchen sink at it worked out alright.”

Love fired off strong on the final restart of the day at lap 152, launching from 16th to 10th in the first two laps after the restart, and once he got to the top 10 Love was finally able to hang on to his track position.

After averaging a 13th-place running position all afternoon, Love ended up ninth at the finish for his 14th top-10 finish in 27 races, staying above the playoff elimination line with two races left in the Round of 12.

“Our No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet team fought hard all day at Kansas Speedway. Danny Stockman (crew chief) and the guys had their work cut out for them today. We took advantage of every chance to adjust the balance, but nothing seemed to work,” Love explained. “At the start of the race, the car was extremely tight, so when given the opportunity to work on it at the end of stage one, we came to pit road. After going back green at the beginning of stage two, the car was decent on entry, but after a few laps, it would get tight again.

“During the final green flag run, the car started to drive better before returning to the tight side once again. We salvaged a ninth-place finish and stayed above the cut line going into Talladega Superspeedway, which was our biggest objective,” he added. “We will head back to Welcome, get to work, and be better for the next mile-and-a-half track deeper into the playoffs.

“I’m confident in our Richard Childress Racing team to bring a great Chevrolet next week and hopefully lock ourselves into the Round of 8.”

Love heads to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway – where he won back in April for his first Xfinity Series victory in just his ninth start – seventh in the playoff standings and three points ahead of the provisional cutoff.

Broadcast coverage of the United Rentals 250, the second race in the Xfinity Series playoffs, is set for Saturday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.