Love Leads Laps Before Late Pocono Pit Penalty

Jesse Love (2) battles Brennan Poole at Pocono Raceway. (HHP/Chris Owens photo)

LONG POND, Pa. – Jesse Love was headed for a strong finish at Pocono Raceway Saturday before a pit-road penalty derailed his afternoon late in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225.

The standout NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie-of-the-year contender had to start from the rear of the field after fixing a brake issue following qualifying, but Love and crew chief Danny Stockman used solid strategy to get out of that hole quickly.

Short-pitting before the two stage cautions allowed Love to catapult his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro into the top five, lining up third for a lap-47 restart that saw the 19-year-old from Menlo Park, Calif., establish himself firmly among the lead group.

After Parker Retzlaff spun and sparked a five-car accident in turn one, Love used the next restart with 40 laps left to make a power move after choosing the inside of the front row, wresting the lead away from NASCAR Cup Series star William Byron.

Love stayed in clean air until lap 55, when Byron rallied back to retake the top spot, but remained inside the top five until coming down for his final pit stop with 28 laps left.

Stockman made the call for four tires, fuel, and two rounds up on the track bar, but unfortunately for Love, a tire got away from his pit crew during that round of service.

That led to a green-flag pass-through penalty which put Love a lap down in 31st, and he was pinned in that position after Stephen Mallozzi stalled on track to bring out the sixth of eight caution flags.

Though Love received the free pass during the final yellow flag to get his lap back, a four-lap sprint to the finish didn’t give him enough time to rally through traffic and contend for a better result.

He was left to settle for 22nd, despite leading twice for a combined seven laps on the afternoon.

“I’m proud of my No. 2 Whelen team for fighting all day at Pocono Raceway. After qualifying, we had to start at the rear to fix a brake issue. My guys got the problem fixed and I knew strategy was going to be important to regain track position,” explained Love. “At the start of the race, we had a strategy that played out well. We took the lead on lap 23 when the leaders pitted, and even despite our tire disadvantage, we were able to hold our own which set us up for the end. Unfortunately, on our scheduled green flag stop, a tire got away from the crew, and I had to serve a pass-through penalty that put us a lap down. From there, our team just had to keep pushing forward for the rest of the race.

“Once we got our lap back, there were not a lot of cautions to help come from the back a second time,” Love added. “The fact that we finished 22nd does not reflect how good our Richard Childress Racing Camaro was. We should have had a top-10 finish at worst, but we will move on and head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway next week.”

Through 19 of 33 races, Love sits sixth in the point standings, one point out of the top five and in solid position to earn additional playoff points when the postseason reset takes place.

He’s earned one win, three poles, five top-five and nine top-10 finishes so far this year, and his 279 laps led ranks fourth among all drivers.

Love and the Xfinity Series field get back to the racetrack Saturday, July 21 as NASCAR returns to the historic 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time in four years.

Broadcast coverage of the Pennzoil 250 at the Brickyard is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET, live on USA, the IMS Radio Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.