Richard Childress Racing driver Jesse Love was recently featured in an interview with NASCAR ahead of the Phoenix race. During the interaction, Love spoke about his strong qualifying session for the GOVX 200 scheduled for this weekend at the one-mile asphalt track.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver will be making his return to Phoenix after winning the 2025 Championship Four race at the one-mile track. Following that, Love had a great qualifying session; he was the second fastest on the grid in his #2 RCR Chevy. He will begin the 200-lap race from one spot behind the pole sitter, Taylor Gray.
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The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was 0.048 seconds ahead of the 2025 champion, Jesse Love. After securing a second-place start, Love thanked his team and ECR engines for the confidence boost ahead of the main event. He further explained:
“Yeah, I don’t think there’s many mistakes that… I felt we both put together a pretty good lap on the tire and happy for Taylor, Jason. But yeah, all in all, really happy with our DWC Camaro. Proud of the guys at ECR, everybody back in Welcome, North Carolina. Then got great car; haven’t been super happy with it today for how fast we’ve been.”
Jesse Love further talked about making small changes to the car ahead of the main event and added:
“So obviously that’s a huge confidence boost for tomorrow because I know me and Danny can go in there, look at all of our info, and kind of nickel-and-dime it to death. Yeah, I think probably had it too cold engine-wise ’cause it wasn’t quite up to temp and wanted to. So happy with the day; it was a good productive day for us. See what we get here.”
The GOVX 200 is scheduled for Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Phoenix Raceway. Major networks, CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, will broadcast the 200-mile race live at 7:30 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, RCR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch still holds the record for best qualifying record with a best lap time of 25.992 seconds and a top speed of 138.504 mph.
“I just feel so clean. So relieved”: When Jesse Love got candid about his maiden Xfinity Series championship title
NASCAR O’Reilly Series driver Jesse Love won his first-ever championship title in his sophomore full-time season in 2025. Later, during a post-race interview at Phoenix Raceway, the RCR driver shared his emotions on achieving the feat.
The #2 Chevy driver had a great start to the 2025 season, clinching the Daytona International Speedway win and securing a playoff spot. Since then, he has been a common face in the top ten drivers on the grid. Following his performance, Love became the sole driver competing against JR Motorsports entries in the Championship 4 race.
Love outperformed Justin Allgaier, Connor Zilisch, and Carson Kvapil in the finale race. Speaking on that, the RCR driver told the media:
“I just feel so clean. So relieved. It’s been a tough year for me, and people like my dad and my whole team to work as hard on my own dream as I have… it just doesn’t feel real.”
Jesse Love clinched two wins, nine top-five finishes, and 22 top-ten finishes in 33 starts last season. Meanwhile, in 2026, Love ranks second with 126 points, two top-five finishes, and one top-ten finish in three starts.
Edited by Karan Yadav
