Fourth For Jesse Love In Xfinity Series Return To Daytona

Jesse Love (2) leads a pack of cars at Daytona Int'l Speedway. (Gavin Baker/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Though he battled to a strong result in Friday night’s Wawa 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Jesse Love fell just short of defending his February NASCAR Xfinity Series win at the World Center of Racing.

After starting 10th on the grid due to inclement weather canceling qualifying, Love rallied forward to lead 14 laps in the first two thirds of the event with his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet.

Unfortunately for the Richard Childress Racing driver, he was unable to maintain control of the race at the front going down the home stretch as he battled the handling of his race car.

Love ebbed and flowed in the draft through the closing portion of the race, including three late restarts, the last of which sent the race to an overtime finish.

The 20-year-old from Menlo Park, Calif., restarted fifth for the two-lap dash to the checkers, lined up behind defending Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier and eventual race winner Parker Kligerman (who was driving in relief of Connor Zilisch), but struggled to stay tucked up to Allgaier’s bumper to mount a challenge at the end.

He crossed the finish line fourth, good enough for his seventh top-five and series-leading 16th top-10 finish of the season, but lamented not having more strength in his car when it mattered the most.

“I was so bad in the first stage, and we fell all the way back to 20th. Danny (Stockman) went to work and got the car better. We stopped complaining about it and got ourselves in position to win,” said Love. “Obviously, it’s really unfortunate to come up short of defending our win. I guess I don’t really know how to win from where I was lined up in fifth, with two teammates in front of me and a top lane that I knew was going to fall apart. It was kind of a hands-tied situation.

“If I ran it back, I would take the top lane, expecting the No. 70 to shove the No. 21 out, and try to fill that hole,” Love added. “Really unfortunate that we didn’t get the win, but still a good points day for our Whelen Chevrolet team.”

With two races remaining before the Xfinity Series playoffs, Love is in firm control of fourth place in the regular season standings, in line for eight additional playoff bonus points going into the postseason.

Next for the Xfinity Series is Portland (Ore.) Int’l Raceway, a 12-turn, 1.964-mile natural road course where Love finished 19th in his debut at the track last June.

Broadcast coverage of the Pacific Office Automation 147 is slated for Saturday, Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.