KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Richard Childress Racing has never shied away from hard racing and stiff competition amongst the drivers of the organization. It wasn’t too long ago that at a penultimate juncture in the season at Martinsville Speedway, the No. 2 and No. 21 cars collided and ruined both of their nights.
That night has lived in the minds of many fans as the ugly aftermath soured the team’s harmony, leading to Sheldon Creed‘s departure at the conclusion of that season.
History has come full circle after Saturday’s (Apr. 18) Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. This chapter of the story takes place in the Jesse Love and Austin Hill period of RCR’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series program.
The pair found themselves door to door in the closing laps of stage one, scrapping for the sixth position and trying to claim valuable stage points. Coming out of turn 4 on lap 38, Love placed himself a little too close to Hill’s door, sending the No. 21 in a spiral that collected bystander William Sawalich.
With it being so early on in the going, both drivers expected more from the other, but neither got what they wanted.
“Jesse’s better than that, and we’re teammates,” Hill said outside of the care center after the incident. “I would expect a little more room than what I was given.”
Love shared the same sentiment about expecting more room, but was still remorseful about the situation.
“We were both racing each other hard, whether or not we need to be doing that from how far back I came from, like maybe that’s a conversation that me and him can have.” Love said post-race. “No matter what I feel about it, I just hate it for the 21 guys.”
Love seemed deeply regretful of the situation and wanted to make sure he took the right steps to navigate it with Hill. He mentioned wanting to speak with Richard Childress, Josh Wise, Scott Speed, and even series veteran Justin Allgaier.
Love said he knew a meeting between the two to discuss the incident was on the horizon, and even wanted to talk before the night was over if he was willing.
“There’s no way I leave here tonight without having that conversation with Austin. I know he wants to talk to me.”
Ultimately, it is vital for the pair heading into next week at Talladega Superspeedway. The two will likely be the class of the field and will be racing against each other for a large portion of the race.
When asked about the upcoming weekend at Talladega, Hill said everything will be business as usual. “Talladega’s a total different breed than Kansas is so, nah we’ll be fine there.”
Hill will look to make up for the gap caused by the run-in with Love after dropping four spots in the standings, sitting eighth overall now. Next week at Talladega, Hill and Love will look to bring RCR back to victory lane for the first time since Daytona International Speedway in February at one of their bread-and-butter tracks.
