For the first time in his career, NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie Jesse Love wins. He outlasted the field in the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega. The 2023 ARCA Menards Series champion has his ticket to the playoffs and a run at another championship.
Jesse Love was having flashbacks to Atlanta when it got to the end. Fuel saving was necessary for the final two caution flags. Drivers started to run out of fuel leading to wrecks but Love found a way to avoid all of that.
Even as other drivers got a run on the No. 2 car, Love kept it just ahead of them. The final two-lap dash to the finish was intense, and the rookie made it look like he had been there and done that before.
Another superspeedway win for Richard Childress Racing. Even with the fuel concerns, Love was able to do a wicked burnout with the steering wheel hanging out of the window.
Jesse Love puts a move on Austin Hill
The first stage was a strong 25-lap run. This field did not want to get too squirrely too soon. Thankfully, it was better than what we saw in the ARCA race beforehand. From the start, it was clear that this would be an RCR party, at least at first.
Austin Hill is just a master on these tracks. There really isn’t any other way to say it. In this car, he just understands how to win on these drafting tracks. Even when he has issues, he ends up in the front by the time the checkered flag flies.
While Hill led almost every lap of the first stage, his RCR teammate Jesse Love took just one from him. The final lap of the stage. Love put on a move, made it to the front, then blocked his teammate to pick up the 10 stage points and the playoff point for the stage win.
Justin Allgaier did hit the wall hard just before the stage ended. It was a violent hit, but Allgaier left the car under his own power. He was a DNF for P38.
Austin Hill hits back at the field in Stage 2
Again, a really clean race for the first three-quarters of the race. Things got sketchy later on. However, under green flag laps, Austin Hill had time and space to move around the track and race back to the front.
Love was also strong. He was there the whole time, shadowing his teammate. But in the second stage, it was Hill and Hill alone who was going to win the stage. The Fords started to show their speed a little in this stage.
Ryan Sieg also moved up and put his name in that top group of contenders. Sieg had his heartbroken last week at Texas, losing to Sam Mayer by 0.002 seconds.
Austin Hill is mostly known for his prowess at Daytona. However, he’s showing that he can be dominant at any superspeedway. A Stage 2 win gave RCR the sweep on the day and let everyone know that the drafting races still go through that 21 car.
Jesse Love capitalizes on late-race chaos
The most impressive thing was how Jesse Love stuck around. He didn’t get caught up in wrecks. Love avoided making enemies out on the track. Late in this race, Austin Hill was leading when he got loose after a run from Parker Kligerman. Hill went into the wall and led to a few other cars wrecking.
While Hill was able to continue, the race was more or less taken out of his hands. After the Hill ordeal, that is when the fuel issues became apparent. I’m not sure how Love and his team kept themselves fueled up for as long as they did, but he was able to get it to Victory Lane on his own.
The end of the race was electric. Brennan Poole was there. Joey Gase. Haillie Deegan was in the top-5 late in this race before she was left out to dry in the draft. There were a lot of underdogs with a chance to win with two laps to go in this race.
The final restart managed to happen without cars running out of fuel. In overtime, Jesse Love kept calm, cool, and collected. He must have learned something from that loss in Atlanta. Today, he is a winner at Talladega.
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