LAS VEGAS — With a long-run car in the longest green flag run of the night, the odds were in Jesse Love‘s favor as the laps ticked down in the final stage of Saturday’s (Oct. 11) NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But with 30 laps to go, heavy lapped traffic allowed Connor Zilisch to scoot by on the inside for the lead. Moments later was a caution that dropped Love to third after pit stops. Then there was the final restart, where Love got used up by Nick Sanchez in a fierce battle for third. By the time the checkered flag waved, the No. 2 car had tumbled to sixth, when a win and a Championship 4 berth looked to be in the cards for much of the night.
Love was understandably heated after the conclusion of the race, and he exchanged words with Sanchez in a heated argument on pit road.
“We’re racing for the win,” Sanchez said. “You’re side drafting, everyone’s side drafting for the win.”
“I’m not talking about side drafting,” Love responded. “I’m talking about putting my fucking door until we almost wipe out both of us.”
“That’s racing,” Sanchez pleaded.
“That’s why you crash half these fucking races,” Love retorted.
“We’re racing for the win,” Sanchez pleaded again.
The confrontation ended there, and Love pushed Sanchez before returning to his No. 2 car to talk to his team and tend to his post-race media obligations.
“I think that’s a good excuse for a lot of people, is (that) they can say, ‘I’m racing,'” Love said. “Well, when you crash out half the freaking races and wreck other people and have big problems with half the field, I guess, yeah, you’re racing, but you’re not racing harder than the next guy. You’re putting yourself in an even worse situation.
“I feel like I give it 100% and I’m not running into people, wrecking people, causing problems. It doesn’t mean I’m not racing hard; it doesn’t mean I’m not trying to get the best finish. But just because you’re trying hard, that’s not the excuse to wreak havoc every week.”
Justin Allgaier, the defending series champion who finished in third behind Aric Almirola and Zilisch, lauded Love and how he handled the situation.
“I walked over and told Jesse that I was proud of him, because he showed a lot of restraint right there,” Allgaier said. “They should have wrecked multiple times, and they didn’t.”
Like Love, Allgaier was also critical of Sanchez and his on-track actions throughout the night.
“I just thought tonight there was a handful of guys that really, really took it over the line,” Allgaier said. “I’m glad that there wasn’t any carnage because that’s not how you want these playoffs to go.”
Sanchez, meanwhile, kept true to his word and restated that what happened on-track was simply racing.
“It wasn’t much of a confrontation,” Sanchez told Frontstretch. “I don’t want to say (Jesse’s) whining, but he’s whining, right?
“We were racing hard there. I mean, I felt like (Almirola) put it on my door, right? So when someone puts you in that position and the next guy gets momentum on you, you’re going to put him in that position because I felt like I was faster than the No. 2.
“Yeah, I don’t really know what to say about that, because we’re racing.”
When asked if there would be a conversation later in the week, Sanchez replied that there wouldn’t,
“There’s no conversation if someone pushes you when they walk away,” Sanchez said.
Love and Sanchez settled their differences at Las Vegas without major escalation both on and off-track, but if their post-race comments were any indication, the story between the two might have another chapter that has yet to be written.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf