Jesse Love Hangs on For First Career Xfinity Win at Talladega

Several underdogs were in contention for their first wins at Talladega this past Saturday, however, they were no match for Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love, as he got his first career win.

The 19-year-old from California had some redemption from the race at Atlanta earlier this season, as he ran out of fuel before the checkered flag. In this situation, he was close on fuel, but he had just enough to make it to the end. 

“Just a great group of guys [on my team] and it’s been such a journey to get to this point,” Love said, as he thanked several people afterward.

“I had PTSD flashbacks from Atlanta,” Love added. “I love Talladega. I love the speedway and I love the fans.”

Love won stage one and led for 28 of the 124 laps. He had a strong car and it showed as he ran up front for most of the race. When it was needed the most, he came in clutch late in the race to take the lead and hold on. Even on the final lap, he was challenged by Alpha Prime Racing’s Brennan Poole, who was seeking closure after he came close to a win at the 2.66-mile superspeedway back in 2016, many of which felt like he should have won. Poole was to the outside of Love coming off turn four but had no drafting help and ended up finishing fifth. 

Love’s teammate, Austin Hill, started on the pole and led the most laps with 41. He was leading with two laps to go, but he was then hit from behind by Parker Kligerman. This sent his No. 21 Chevrolet spinning and causing a nine-car pileup, that would lead to there being an overtime restart. 

Riley Herbst had his best finish of the season finishing in second, while Anthony Alfredo finished third, followed by Leland Honeyman Jr. of Young’s Motorsports, and Brennan Poole. Sheldon Creed, Poole’s teammate Caesar Bacarella, Matt DiBenedetto, Jeb Burton, and Cole Custer rounded out the top ten. The Ag-Pro 300 had 34 lead changes among 16 drivers.

Despite losing out on his first career win by just inches last week at Texas, Ryan Seig ended up taking home the $100,000 bonus in the Dash 4 Cash. It came down between him and AJ Allmendinger after Justin Allgaier crashed out early and Sam Mayer was also taken out later on. Seig would finish 17^th and AJ Allmendinger would finish 19th.

“This is huge for our team,” Sieg said. “It was a rough one. I thought I threw it away, but were lucky enough to get the caution at the end and come back and beat the 16. So it all worked out and is pretty extraordinary for our small team.”

Seig will compete against Jesse Love, Riley Herbst, and Anthony Alfredo for the Dash 4 Cash next week at Dover Motor Speedway. The BetRivers 200 will take place on Saturday, April 27^th at 1:30pm EST.