Jesse Love strengthened his bid for the NASCAR O’Reilly Series title on Saturday with a dominant victory in the Timberland PRO 200 at Phoenix Raceway. Having captured the championship at the same one-mile oval last November, the 21-year-old California native delivered a commanding performance that put him firmly in control of the points standings. That’s some pretty big championship implications if we could have won that one.
The victory marks Love’s second at Phoenix, his second of the season, and the fifth win of his career. Under the new nine-race Chase format, three races still remain in the championship battle. However, Love’s strong drive, combined with trouble for his key rivals, provided him a major advantage heading into the final stretch. However, don’t tell the story, the statistics.
Love dominated much of Saturday’s event, sweeping both the first and second stages while leading 156 of the 200 laps. His performance earned him 75 points, just one point shy of the maximum achievable total for the race weekend.
Late in the race, Sam Mayer staged a dramatic charge following a final 35-lap green-flag run. Mayer, who had to start from the rear in 35th position following an engine change, pushed his No. 41 Chevrolet to Love’s bumper coming off the final turn, ultimately taking second place by just 0.128 seconds. I love coming to Arizona; I’m a West Coast kid. Given that his No, mayer’s effort was all the more spectacular.
Love opened a 36-point cushion at the top of the Chase standings over Justin Allgaier, who finished third on Saturday. Corey Day sits in third place, 39 points off the lead after finishing fourth, while former points leader Sheldon Creed dropped heavily to fourth in the standings, trailing by 59 points.
Creed entered Saturday’s event holding a two-point championship lead and secured second place behind Love in Stage 1. However, during the stage break caution, a kill switch malfunction shut off his engine. His pit crew struggled to restart the car, causing him to lose three laps on pit road and dropping him to 37th. Creed managed to recover slightly to finish 32nd, two laps down.
“I would say it’s a day we prepared for, not just dreamed of,” Love said following his victory. “I’ve got a great group around me, just preparing me to be in these situations, to be calm, cool and collected. I’ve learned from a lot of mistakes that allow me to execute at a high-level at a track like this. I’ve been here, it feels like, a million times.”
Addressing the intense late pressure from Mayer, Love credited his crew and acknowledged the challenge. “Hats off to them, man,” Love noted. “The 41 team did a great job coming from the back and making their car better. Honestly, it felt like they were a little better than we were at the end. I was having to just drive a lot over the tire to make any sort of lap time.” And they look pretty ugly for the old 41 and, honestly, the 00 (Creed), too, i’m looking at the numbers right here.
Mayer, who now holds sixth place in the Chase standings—86 points behind Love—praised the competition while lamenting the missed opportunity. “Good job to (Love); he drove a great race,” Mayer remarked. “We definitely pressured him the whole time. It came down to making a mistake or not, and he executed really well. The Hendrick Engine shop brought a really good engine for us — two of them, technically, I guess, ’cause we blew one up. I haven’t had fun this year like that.”
Further down the field, Sammy Smith crossed the finish line in fifth place, followed by Brandon Jones in sixth, who dropped a lap early on after changing to wet tires during a brief rain shower in Stage 1. The top 10 was rounded out by Dean Thompson in seventh, William Sawalich in eighth, Rajah Caruth in ninth, and Carson Kvapil in 10th place. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet all the way to the finish line.
