Early Incident, Lack Of Speed Doom Love’s Bristol Chances

Jesse Love in action at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Jacob Seelman/Motorsports Hotspot photo)

BRISTOL, Tenn. – A veritable disaster of a night at Bristol Motor Speedway Friday got Jesse Love’s NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff run off to a rough start.

Though he qualified ninth in the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Love drifted back almost immediately at the .533-mile concrete high banks.

Slipping back to 13th in the early going, the high point of Love’s night came moments after it could have ended, as he got a small piece of a late stage-one incident between Corey Day and Stefan Parsons at lap 77.

Knowing there would be a dash to the first stage break, Love and crew chief Danny Stockman elected to stay on-track as others pitted to flip the segment, lining up on the front row for a two-lap sprint.

As then-leader Harrison Burton struggled to get up to speed, Love jumped to the point to lead his only lap of the night, but just as quickly was moved off the bottom by Justin Allgaier on the last lap of the stage.

From there, Love was stuffed into the middle of three-wide, though he still crossed fifth on lap 85 to garner six stage points in the postseason opener.

Pitting and losing all of his track position as a result, Love could never claw his way back to the front for the final two-thirds of the event. He lost a lap in the second half and finished 25th, a far cry from the series-leading 18 top 10s he had through the first 26 races of the year.

“It was a terrible night at what I feel is one of our best racetracks as a team with the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet. I have no idea why, because we definitely tried everything [to improve],” lamented Love. “We were different than we were here in the spring, and maybe that was our error, but nothing went our way all night. It could always be worse, but this one was pretty bad.

“Obviously, we’re below the cut line, but it’s nothing we can’t dig ourselves out of.”

To Love’s point, he leaves The Last Great Colosseum 10th in the playoff standings and in danger of elimination, but only three points back of the advancement threshold with two races remaining in the Round of 12.

Even better for the 20-year-old from Menlo Park, Calif., is the fact he’s heading next to Kansas Speedway, where he finished ninth a year ago during his rookie campaign.

Though he’s riding a 26-race winless drought dating back to February’s season opener at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway, Love is confident in his team that all the tools are available for them to rebound toward a championship effort.

“This isn’t reflective of how hard this team works and what we know we can do,” he said. “I’m actually ready for a bit of a break here. It doesn’t change a whole lot for me; if anything, it gives me a little bit extra time to prepare for Kansas and reset as a whole so we can shake this one off.

“Our intermediate program has been pretty good all season, so we should be alright. I’m not panicking about anything.”

Following a week off, Love and the Xfinity Series field will get back to the racetrack Saturday, Sept. 27 at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, where Friday night’s Bristol winner Aric Almirola won last year’s playoff race.

Almirola won’t be entered, however, as modified ace Justin Bonsignore returns to the seat of the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Broadcast coverage of the Kansas Lottery 300 is slated for 4 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.