Jesse Love, at 20 years old, can now call himself a NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion.
The Bay Area native continually had the right adjustments, pouncing late to take the lead over best friend Connor Zilisch and set sail en route to his second win of the season. It’s just the third victory of his 66-race NXS career.
But there’s no trophy bigger than this one. Love became just the fifth driver in series history to win the title at age 20 or younger.
“I feel so relieved. I’ve put in so much work and people like my dad, Scott Speed and my team who worked just as hard for my dream,” Love told the CW after the race. “It hasn’t set in yet, it doesn’t feel real.”
Love bested Aric Almirola and Zilisch late after some early struggles. Ultimately, his Chevrolet was the most improved of the Championship 4 contenders who dominated Saturday (Nov. 1) evening’s race.
However, the No. 2 car that took the green flag was far from the one that emerged during the final green-flag run, scooting away after Justin Allgaier‘s pit crew had problems late. Slowly but surely, the team improved the car, their pit stops the cherry on top that kept Love in position all night.
The speed finally came on the final restart, Zilisch a sitting duck as Love took the lead with 25 laps left. The margin of victory may have been 0.861 seconds, but make no mistake, Love was never seriously challenged after that.
In fact, it was Aric Almirola who took second place. By virtue of passing Zilisch, Almirola won the owner’s championship for Joe Gibbs Racing, nabbing the No. 88 on the final run en route to a runner-up result in the race.
“What an absolute fight. Our car was not good to start. We had to just keep swinging at it,” said Almirola. “I’m just so proud. J.D. Gibbs name is on this car. Coy Gibbs name is on this car. This is not about me.”
Love struggled in stage one after feeling some brake trouble but powered on despite falling out of the top 10.
Zilisch took the lead at the start of stage two with Allgaier in tow as he dispatched with Taylor Gray. The teammates started a short back-and-forth before the veteran took away the lead from the rookie and set sail. Allgaier claimed the stage win before pit stops with 100 laps remaining.
Love miraculously won the race off pit road as Zilisch dropped like a rock through the frontrunners. Allgaier weaved his way around Love on the ensuing restart, but the Richard Childress Racing driver kept him honest before the next caution. Zilisch wouldn’t be as fortunate as his car started to fall off.
A caution for contact between Daniel Dye and Leland Honeyman reset the field with less than 85 laps remaining. Love continued to make inroads on Allgaier before a hellacious wreck between Ryan Sieg and Christian Eckes once again bunched up the contenders.
The RCR crew put together another stellar stop over the JR Motorsports counterparts under caution, but the fight wasn’t over there. After Zilisch took the look on the ensuing restart, Love passed him right back during the aforementioned long run and wouldn’t look back from there.
Xfinity Championship Race Results
Love now has three months to enjoy his title as the 2025 season officially comes to a close. The newly-named O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will resume competition in February 2026 at Daytona International Speedway.
Thomas is in his second year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon. He helps manage the 2-Headed Monster Column.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college athletics in the Bay Area, writing about the California Golden Bears and doing play by play broadcasting.