Love ‘Numb’ After Potential Iowa Xfinity Win Slips Away

Jesse Love (David Rosenblum/Nigel Kinrade Photgraphy)

NEWTON, Iowa – What appeared it would be Jesse Love’s second NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season slipped through his fingers at Iowa Speedway through no fault of his own.

After qualifying on the pole, earning bonus points in both stages, and then rallying back into contention in the closing laps of the Hy-Vee Perks 250, Love restarted third with 38 to go and took the lead with four fresh tires by driving past defending series champion Justin Allgaier.

Allgaier, who’d used a two-tire call to gain track position, spun in turn two less than a lap later after contact from Ross Chastain. That brought out a quick yellow that cemented Love’s control of the race at that point.

Unfortunately for the 20-year-old from Menlo Park, Calif., it didn’t last.

Though Love got away on the next restart with 30 laps left, a stack-up between Corey Day and Matt DiBenedetto in turns one and two led to oil being dropped on the racetrack and a slick surface when he and others returned to that end of the seven-eighths-mile oval.

Unknowingly, Love entered the corner right in the path of the oil slick, causing his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet to break momentum and slide out of the racing groove.

The mishap allowed then second-place Sam Mayer to take the lead from Love, and after that Love simply couldn’t get back past the Haas Factory Team driver.

Mayer went on to lead the final 28 laps for his first Xfinity Series win of the season, while Love was left “numb” in the immediate aftermath of the race and wondering what could have been for he and his Danny Stockman-led team.

“It was a good day for our Whelen Chevrolet team, but man … the end result is so frustrating,” lamented Love. “We just couldn't fire off on the early restarts. I felt like I was on ice for the first five or 10 laps of a run and then we were the fastest thing in town. For whatever reason, the track freed up a ton. The car was definitely loose in the first run, but then we made big enough swings to get us back in the hunt.

“Good restarts helped us be in contention at the end, but unfortunately, those same things took the win away. There was oil down on the racetrack and I don’t think NASCAR saw it because I didn’t see it,” he explained. “We lost the lead and then on the last restart, Sam (Mayer) was playing games – not in a bad way, just doing what he needed to do – but it made it really hard for me to launch.

“It felt like I was on ice, both fronts and rears, and I got beat.”

Despite the disappointment of coming up one spot short of victory, Love did gain in the regular season points battle. He still ranks fourth in the standings, but sits just 70 points back of a tie for the series lead between Allgaier and Connor Zilisch.

With four races until the playoffs – which Love is locked into thanks to his season-opening win at Daytona Int’l Speedway from February – he knows every point is crucial to set himself up for a deep postseason run.

“These are the kind of days we need to have,” Love said. “We’re in a good spot, but the potential is there for us to be in an even better spot before we start the final run toward a championship, and we know that. We have a couple tracks coming up where I know we can capitalize, and I’m really looking forward to getting back to Daytona in a couple of weeks and defending our victory there.”

Love’s 15 top-10 finishes through the first 22 races of the season rank as the series lead in that category.

Broadcast coverage of the next Xfinity Series stop on the calendar – the Mission 200 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l – airs Saturday, Aug. 9 at 3 p.m. ET on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.