Jesse Love outshines Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier to claim his maiden NASCAR championship

The NASCAR Xfinity Series championship took an unexpected turn in the Championship 4 race, and Jesse Love clinched his maiden title. The Richard Childress Racing driver outperformed series leader Connor Zilisch and defending champion Justin Allgaier at the race held on Saturday, November 1, 2025, at Phoenix Raceway.

Love qualified sixth for the 200-lap race with a best lap time of 27.651 seconds and a top speed of 130.194 mph. Meanwhile, the JR Motorsports championship rivals Zilisch and Allgaier were ahead of the RCR driver in P4 and P5. On the other hand, Brandon Jones set the fastest lap time of 27.490 seconds and began the race from pole position.

Despite a decent start, Jesse Love struggled during the Championship 4 race and fell to 12th place in stage one. He then moved a few spots in stage two and finished in P5. After a restart in the final stage of the race, Love was told to work his way to the top and take the lead. By lap 110, Love reduced the lead to 0.4 seconds.

On a late restart during the closing laps of the race, Connor Zilisch led the race while Love was 0.5 seconds behind him. Following the late restart charge, the RCR driver made a move on lap 175 and took the lead from Connor Zilisch and led the rest of the laps, increasing the lead to one second.

Jesse Love maintained his lead over his Championship 4 rivals, Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier. He then led the pack with a lead of 1.5 seconds with three laps to go and created history, securing his maiden Xfinity Series championship title.

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"I just feel so clean. So relieved": Jesse Love shared his emotions on his maiden Xfinity Series championship title

NASCAR driver Jesse Love clinched his first-ever Xfinity Series championship title in his sophomore season. Later, during a post-race interview, the Richard Childress Racing driver opened up about his emotions on winning the title.

Love debuted in the Xfinity Series with Richard Childress Racing in the 2024 season. He drove the #2 Chevy and secured one win at Talladega Superspeedway. The Xfinity Series driver wrapped his rookie season in eighth place and has been improving since then.

The #2 Chevy driver began this season by winning the inaugural race at Daytona International Speedway, securing his spot in the playoffs. Jesse Love delivered consistent results throughout the season and won the Championship 4 race along with the title. He expressed his emotions about the same and stated:

“I just feel so clean. So relieved. It’s been a tough year for me and people like my dad and my whole 2 team to work as hard on my own dream as I have… it just doesn’t feel real.”

Jesse Love amassed two wins, 22 top tens, nine top fives, and four pole positions in 33 starts this season. He secured the championship title with an average start of 9.094 and an average finish of 11.375.

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Edited by Karan Yadav