Love Perseveres Despite Late Damage For Sixth At ‘Dega

Jesse Love in action at Talladega Superspeedway. (John Harrelson/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

TALLADEGA, Ala. – A battered right-front fender that was missing a sizable chunk in the final laps was the only thing that was truly able to slow NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie-of-the-year contender Jesse Love down Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Love, the 19-year-old standout from Menlo Park, Calif., earned his series-leading fifth pole of the season in qualifying and led four times for a race-high 28 laps in the United Rentals 250, appearing poised to have a shot at defending his victory from the April race at the 2.66-mile oval.

However, a handful of “rookie mistakes” shuffled him in and out of contention at the sharp end of the field, before he was swept up in the dreaded “Big One” that eliminated a swath of contenders and set the stage for an overtime finish.

Love was on the bottom lane and charging toward the top 10 with three laps left in regulation when Carson Kvapil went spinning into the pack at the entrance to turn one. As Kvapil’s Chevrolet slid down the banking, Love dove to the apron to try and avoid contact, but was hit in the right front by the No. 88.

The shunt tore up the corner of the No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro and left Love at an aerodynamic disadvantage following a short red flag for cleanup, though crew chief Danny Stockman elected to keep Love on track for track position instead of pitting him to make repairs.

Though he restarted seventh for overtime, Love struggled to gain speed and faded back during the first lap of extra distance. But after staying committed to the bottom lane, a strong push by Brennan Poole exiting turn four helped Love surge back to sixth at the checkered flag even with the damage to his car.

It was the 15th top-10 finish for Love in 28 Xfinity Series starts this year.

While it wasn’t the end result Love had hoped for, the teenager acknowledged that he “made the best of a bad situation” once he was involved in the late carnage and didn’t have the draftability he needed.

“I thought we maximized the day once that wreck happened with the 88 [Kvapil],” Love said. “We weren’t going to win (after that) unless something crazy happened, which we were kind of close to having. But I’m proud of our guys. I thought me and my spotter [Brandon Benesch] did a good job maximizing the day.

“I feel like I’ve kind of been the weakest link on the speedway stuff, and I feel like today I kind of made a good jump forward and controlled my own destiny a little bit better.”

The best news for Love is that he heads to the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL for the first elimination race of the Xfinity Series playoffs 22 points ahead of the cut line, after entering Talladega just three points to the good and in a much more precarious position.

It has him far more optimistic about his chances to advance to the second round and take a vital step toward contending for a series championship in his rookie campaign.

“Any net gain is better than three (points),” Love said, smiling as he talked to reporters after the race. “I think we got a lot out of the day … at least to where I feel like I control my destiny a bit more at the ROVAL. The first stage was such a bummer, though, because the 7 (Justin Allgaier) kind of shucked us … after I felt I was in a perfect position to side draft the top and keep control of the lead. Not getting stage points there really stung a bit, but after that first stage blunder, I thought we did well and stayed in the mix.

“Whenever you get back in traffic, you see how hard everyone is really racing, and I figured [that intensity] wouldn’t stop until we wrecked,” he added. “I knew it was coming and I was ready for it, and I think that kept us from getting completely torn up, but I’m still in a good position and I really think that if we can get through this first round … we’ll be in a good place to go out and try to get ourselves to Phoenix [for the championship race].”

Love will visit the ROVAL for the first time on Saturday, Oct. 12. Broadcast coverage of the Drive for the Cure 250 is slated for 4 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.