April 20, 2024 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Jesse Love celebrates first NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Jesse Love earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory Saturday in a typically wild double-overtime finish in the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway — crossing the line by a slight 0.141-seconds ahead of Riley Herbst.

In many ways, it was victorious redemption for the 19-year-old Californian, who earlier this season was leading the race in overtime at Atlanta Motor Speedway only to run out of fuel before the checkered flag. Love’s win in the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet makes him only the seventh driver to score his maiden win at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway.

“Just a great group of guys [on my team] and it’s been such a journey to get to this point,” a grinning Love said before thanking a litany of people that helped him in his young career to date.

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

Love certainly earned this first win — starting on the outside of the front row next to his veteran RCR teammate Austin Hill, winning his fourth stage of the season (Stage 1) and leading 28 of the 124 laps. He ran top five for most of the afternoon and when he needed to go on that final restart, he went, jumping to the lead at the overtime green flag and holding off the field when it mattered most.

His RCR teammate Hill, the polesitter, led a race-best 41 laps and was out front with two laps remaining in regulation when he was hit from behind by Parker Kligerman. The incident sent Hill’s car into the wall and ultimately collected nine cars, including many that had been running toward the front much of the afternoon — putting the race into overtime.

On the ensuing overtime restart, Kligerman was eliminated in a four-car crash at the front as various cars started running out of gas. Love lined up on the front row for the final restart among eight drivers racing for their career first wins.

Herbst’s runner-up finish in the Stewart-Haas Racing Ford was his best showing of the year. Our Motorsports’ Anthony Alfredo finished third, followed by Young’s Motorsports rookie Leland Honeyman Jr. and Alpha Prime Racing’s Brennan Poole. Alfredo tied his career best mark and Honeyman had a career-best finish.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sheldon Creed, Alpha Prime Racing’s Caesar Bacarella, Viking Motorsports’s Matt DiBenedetto, Jordan Anderson Racing’s Jeb Burton (the 2023 Talladega winner) and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer rounded out the top 10.

There were 34 lead changes among 16 drivers in a typically Talladega afternoon.

Ryan Sieg, who lost to Sam Mayer last week at Texas Motor Speedway in a photo finish by 0.002-seconds, won the Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus.

An 11-car accident on Lap 65 proved critical to several race frontrunners as well as Dash 4 Cash eligible drivers.

Herbst hit Justin Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevy with only two laps left in the opening stage – both vying for a top 10 and some early stage points. It eliminated Allgaier from contention. Mayer was eliminated in a later multi-car crash and that left an intriguing battle between Sieg, who had to make a green flag late race pit stop because of a flat tire and AJ Allmendinger, whose car was damaged in a crash.

Sieg and Allmendinger lined up 19th and 20th — respectively — on the second overtime re-start and Sieg was able to pull away, finishing 17th with Allmendinger 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.”

Not only does he win the Dash 4 Cash paycheck, but Sieg will compete against Love, Herbst and Alfredo next week at Dover for the final race of the incentive program.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chandler Smith, who finished 25th, still holds a 14-point lead over Custer atop the championship standings.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to the 1-mile Dover Motor Speedway next week for Saturday’s BetRivers 200 (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Ryan Truex is the defending race winner.

NOTE: Post-race inspection in the Xfinity Series garage was completed without issue, confirming Jesse Love as the winner. The Nos. 8 and 81 will be taken to Concord, North Carolina for wind tunnel testing.



NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 9
Race Results for the Ag-Pro 300 - Saturday, April 20, 2024
Talladega Superspeedway - Talladega, AL - 2.66 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 124 Laps - 329.84 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 4/20/2024 @ 06:58 PM Eastern

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 2 Jesse Love # WAT Chevrolet 124 1 2 59 Running 5 28 6
2 8 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 124 9 8 40 Running 3 13
3 11 5 Anthony Alfredo Dude Wipes Chevrolet 124   34 Running 1 6
4 33 42 Leland Honeyman # Mezrano Injury Lawyers Chevrolet 124   33 Running  
5 27 44 Brennan Poole CW & Sons Infrastructure Chevrolet 124   32 Running  
6 10 18 Sheldon Creed Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota 124   31 Running  
7 29 45 Caesar Bacarella Prime Bites Chevrolet 124   30 Running  
8 28 38 Matt DiBenedetto Viking Motorsports Ford 124   29 Running 1 1
9 35 27 Jeb Burton Puryear Tank Lines Chevrolet 124  9 30 Running  
10 4 00 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford 124 10 10 29 Running 2 4
11 38 14 Mason Massey(i) Fan Controlled Chevrolet 124   0 Running  
12 31 15 Hailie Deegan # AirBox Ford 124   25 Running  
13 25 28 Kyle Sieg North Country Ford Ford 124   24 Running  
14 1 21 Austin Hill Bennett Transportation Chevrolet 124 3 1 41 Running 7 41 1
15 13 19 Taylor Gray(i) Operation 300 Toyota 124   0 Running 1 1
16 36 92 Josh Bilicki Insurance King Chevrolet 124   21 Running  
17 24 39 Ryan Sieg Sci Aps Ford 124  4 27 Running 2 7
18 17 35 Joey Gase Fireside RV Rental Chevrolet 124   19 Running  
19 14 16 AJ Allmendinger Celsius Chevrolet 124 5 3 32 Running  
20 9 11 Josh Williams Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet 124   17 Running  
21 5 8 Sammy Smith Pilot Flying J Coffee Chevrolet 124   16 Running 2 2
22 18 97 Shane Van Gisbergen # Wendy's Chevrolet 124 7  19 Running 1 1
23 26 29 Blaine Perkins Ollie's Ford 123   14 Running  
24 19 66 David Starr GreenLightPP.com Chevrolet 123   13 Running 1 1
25 7 81 Chandler Smith QuickTie Toyota 123 4 6 24 Running 2 3
26 37 43 Ryan Ellis Four Loko Jungle Juice Chevrolet 123   11 Running  
27 20 91 Kyle Weatherman DriveSmartWarranty.com Chevrolet 120   10 DVP  
28 30 4 Dawson Cram # TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet 120   9 Running  
29 3 48 Parker Kligerman Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet 117 2 7 21 Accident 4 10
30 21 31 Parker Retzlaff EasyCare Chevrolet 113   7 Ignition  
31 32 32 Jordan Anderson Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet 111   6 Accident 1 1
32 12 07 Patrick Emerling BIG Studio Group Chevrolet 111   5 Accident  
33 23 9 Brandon Jones Menards/Criterion Appliances Chevrolet 65 8 5 13 Accident 1 4
34 6 20 Ryan Truex The Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 65 6  8 Accident 1 1
35 22 51 Jeremy Clements One Stop/All South Electric Chevrolet 65   2 Accident  
36 15 1 Sam Mayer First Bank of Alabama Chevrolet 65   1 Accident  
37 34 26 Jeffrey Earnhardt ForeverLawn Toyota 46   1 Engine  
38 16 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Chevrolet 24   1 Accident  

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 30 Mins, 42 Secs. Average Speed: 131.323 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.141 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 2, 48, 21, 81, 16, 20, 97, 9, 98, 00
Stage 2 Top 10: 21, 2, 16, 39, 9, 81, 48, 98, 27, 00

Caution Flags: 6 for 28 laps; Laps: 26-30 (#7 incident backstretch [None]); 52-55 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]); 67-72 (#9, 51, 1, 48, 39, 20, 91, 16, 38, 42, 18 incident frontstretch [None]); 75-78 (Debris backstretch [None]); 113-117 (#21, 48, 5, 32, 91, 19, 07, 27, 66 incident turn 4 [92]); 119-122 (48, 2, 18, 11 incident turn 1 [39]).

Lead Changes: 34 among 16 drivers; A. Hill 1-23; J. Love # 24-26; M. DiBenedetto 27; J. Love # 28-30; A. Hill 31-33; C. Custer 34-36; R. Sieg 37-42; C. Smith 43; R. Truex 44; C. Smith 45-46; A. Hill 47-51; J. Anderson 52; J. Love # 53-56; B. Jones 57-60; R. Sieg 61; S. Smith 62; S. Van Gisbergen # 63; S. Smith 64; A. Hill 65-68; D. Starr 69; A. Hill 70-72; R. Herbst 73-81; A. Hill 82-83; R. Herbst 84-86; P. Kligerman 87-88; R. Herbst 89; P. Kligerman 90; A. Alfredo 91-96; P. Kligerman 97; C. Custer 98; T. Gray(i) 99; J. Love # 100-110; A. Hill 111; P. Kligerman 112-117; J. Love # 118-124.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: April 27, 2024 - Dover Motor Speedway

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