Jesse Love Shocks the World, Steals NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship

Adam Tropper - Motorsports Today Reporter

Jesse Love crosses the start/finish line to secure the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship

Avondale, A.Z - The NASCAR Xfinity Series will be crowning a champion one more time, as after 11 seasons, the second-tier series will have a new entitlement sponsor heading into 2026. There’ll be no shortage of excitement, as there are plenty of key storylines heading into this race. The 2025 season (and the Championship 4 lineup) has been dominated by JR Motorsports. With 17 wins in the first 32 races of the season, they have looked unstoppable at times. This has resulted in JRM making up 3 of the spots in the Championship 4. 

Rookie phenom Connor Zilisch, who has 10 wins this season and will be moving up to the Cup Series next year, qualified the highest of his championship adversaries in 4th. Right behind, starting in 5th place, is Zilisch’s teammate and defending series champion Justin Allgaier. Allgaier, with 3 wins on the season, has finally accomplished his ultimate goal of being a champion, but with that pressure off of him, he's been ready for more. Next, the third JRM car that will compete for the title is another rookie, Carson Kvapil. While Kvapil is winless, he has been very consistent. However, Kvapil had to start back in 14th. Finally, Jesse Love in his #2 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevy, was looking to play spoiler, starting the race in 6th place.

The 200-lap event started smoothly, with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones starting on the pole alongside his teammate, Taylor Gray. Gray took the lead within a few laps, with Jones falling backward quickly. Allgaier took the tentative championship lead from Zilisch by Lap 8, moving up the 3rd in the race. Kvapil began to take the fight to his competitors, climbing up to 9th place, ready to attack Jesse Love. Moving ahead to Lap 37, Jeb Burton in the #27 hit the wall after suffering a flat tire, but no caution came out. By the end of the first stage, Taylor Gray, looking to redeem himself after a tough loss at Martinsville last week, picked up where he left off by taking the win over Sheldon Creed. 

The first round of pit stops at the stage break saw Carson Kvapil’s #1 team fall out of the top ten. The Stage 2 restart saw a two-horse race between Zilisch and Allgaier. Allgaier’s experience proved to be successful, as he took the lead and began to pull away. Kvapil struggled to make up the lost ground, while Jesse Love stayed stagnant in the back end of the top ten. Ultimately, both Stage 1 and 2 did not see any cautions for incident.

The next cycle of pit stops saw another Championship 4 team have a slow stop. This time, it was Zilisch’s 88 crew, losing 6 positions. On the flip side, Love’s team completed a near perfect stop, giving the #2 the lead. Once the third and final stage got going, it didn’t take long to finally see the first caution for incident occurred. Leland Honeyman spun on the frontstrech on lap 113, allowing some pit strategy to come into play for the first time.

All of the Championship 4 stayed out, and while the restart was fairly standard, it allowed Zilisch to make up lost ground. With only 70 laps to go. Allgaier was leading with Love right behind in 2nd, and Zilisch in 4th. The underdog story oi Kvapil wasn’t shaping out well, as he was stuck in 12th place.

Love continued to reel in Allgaier, getting to his bumper multiple times. However, he couldn’t make the pass. During this battle, Ryan Sieg, driving the #41 for Haas Factory Team this weekend filling in for a suspended Sam Mayer, suffered a hard wreck in Turn 3 with 49 laps to go. On what could be the final pit stop of the season, it was Allgaier having a rough time. Entering pit road from the lead, the #7 team ended up falling to 4th, behind Love and Zilisch. 

On the restart, Zilisch was able to pull away, but only because right behind, Love and Allgaier were taken 3-wide by Aric Almirola. It is important to note that although he races part-time, Almirola is driving for the Owners’ championship on behalf of the #19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. 

However, just as it was looking like Zilisch would cap off a historic season with his 11th win and the title, Love, made one last charge. With about 25 to go, Love took the lead from his best friend and ran away. When the checkered flag flew, Love, who was victorious in the opening race of the 2025 season, took his second win of the season when it mattered most.

Reflecting on the victory and the potential criticism of not being the most deserving champion, Love lightheartedly said, "I really don't give a s***. I still get a big trophy." He also mentioned his friendship with Zilisch and how, when they race together, they "always expect the most out of each other."

Aric Almirola celebrates winning the Owners' Championship

With Love winning for RCR, this is ironically the second instance in which JRM had 3 cars in the Championship 4 and didn’t come away with the title (2022, Ty Gibbs). While the organization didn’t come home with the win, each JRM driver showed grace in their post-race interviews. Allgaier praised Jesse Love’s driving throughout the night and noted how he takes solace in “being the old guy and still being able to run up front.” Meanwhile, Zilisch admitted losing would be a tough pill to swallow, but he’s incredibly proud of the season they had.

Additionally, the aforementioned Aric Almirola secured the Owners’ Championship for the JGR #19 entry. Cup Series driver Ty Gibbs is the listed owner of the #19 car and was available post-race. He highlighted how happy he is that the team acts as a family affair and is proud of what they’ve accomplished. Almirola himself noted his long-standing relationship with the Gibbs family, saying that “tonight is not about Aric Almirola, it’s about Joe Gibbs Racing… it means a lot to me to be able to do that for Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s about honoring the people [at JGR] and I’m just lucky enough to be a part of it.” 

With both the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series Champions crowned, all that’s left is tomorrow’s NASCAR Cup Series event, where Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe will battle it out in the desert in what will most likely be the last season under NASCAR’s playoff elimination format.