Jesse Love

Jesshill Michael Gregory Love Jr. (born January 14, 2005) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro SS for Richard Childress Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for RCR, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports. He has previously competed in the ARCA Menards Series.

Love currently holds two records: He is the youngest winner ever in the ARCA Menards Series West, and the youngest winner ever in any NASCAR-sanctioned event, both at 15 years, 5 months, and 13 days. He is also the youngest driver to win a NASCAR sanctioned championship, having won the ARCA Menards Series West championship in 2020 at age 15. He also won the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in 2025, the ARCA West championship in 2021, and the ARCA Menards Series championship in 2023.

Love is set to join Wood Brothers Racing in the Cup Series for the 2027 season, piloting the No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

Racing career

Early career Love began racing at age five. Early in his career, he drove in the Quarter Midgets of America Series, where he won multiple races and championships before turning ten years old. He then went on to win championships in three different divisions of USAC in the same year, becoming the first driver to accomplish that. At the age of thirteen, Love, competing for Naake-Klauer Motorsports, was granted an age waiver to compete in the RPM Pro Late Model Series by Madera Speedway track promoter Kenny Shepherd due to his talent in the 51Fifty Energy Drink Jr. Late Model Series the prior year (in which he won another championship). In 2018, Love drove full-time in the INEX Legend Car Racing Series, winning five of the eight races on the schedule en route to that series' championship. The other series he raced in that year were the BCRA Midget Series and the Hunt Magneto Sprint Car Series, both of whom Love had to apply for an age exception to participate in. Love drove for Keith Kunz Motorsports in the SRL Southwest Tour, a late model racing series, in 2019.

ARCA On January 14, 2020, it was announced that Love would run full-time and for rookie of the year in the ARCA Menards Series West in the No. 19 Toyota for Bill McAnally Racing. He replaced Hailie Deegan in that car, who left the McAnally team and Toyota's driver development program to join Ford's driver development program, running full-time in the twenty-race ARCA Menards Series for DGR-Crosley.

After finishing second in the season-opener at Las Vegas Bullring, Love won his first West Series race in the first of the two races in the doubleheader at the Utah Motorsports Campus road course on June 27. It was just his second start in the series.

In addition, Love and his BMR teammates would compete in the ten races of the twenty-race ARCA Menards Series' Sioux Chief Showdown. He made his debut in the first Showdown race at Phoenix Raceway on March 6. A few weeks earlier, Love and his teammates also made their debut in the ARCA Menards Series East at New Smyrna; Love finished twelfth.

Love finished the 2020 ARCA West season with three wins and nine top-five finishes in eleven races en route to the championship, beating out season-long rival Blaine Perkins. He became the youngest West Series champion at just fifteen years, nine months, and 24 days old.

In 2021, Love returned to BMR for his second season in the West Series, and moved from the No. 19 to the No. 16, replacing Gio Scelzi with the team condensing from four full-time cars to two and the No. 19 car being closed down. He also returned to Venturini Motorsports for a nine-race schedule in the main ARCA Menards Series (including all three combination races with the ARCA Menards Series East) as well as one non-combination race in the East Series (at Dover). In both series, he drove the No. 25. He earned his first career win of the season at Salem Speedway, outdueling Ty Gibbs in a restart with 46 laps to go.

On January 3, 2022, it was announced that Love would return to Venturini Motorsports for the majority of the 2022 season, running all of the races where he was eligible. During the season, he earned eight top fives and twelve top tens. He would also earn his second career ARCA win at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack, leading every lap in a dominating fashion.

Love would be upgraded to a full-time schedule with Venturini Motorsports in the 2023 season. That year, Love would have a breakout season, earning ten wins, eighteen top-tens, and seventeen top-fives. He would ultimately claim the 2023 ARCA Menards Series championship one race early at Salem, after simply taking the green flag.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

2023 On February 9, 2023, it was announced that Love would run three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races for Tricon Garage, driving their No. 1 truck. At Gateway, Love made his debut in the No. 11 truck due to the original driver, Corey Heim, having an illness. Toni Breidinger would drive the No. 1 truck for that race. Love would end up finishing in the top-ten in ninth. He made his second start of the season at Kansas, finishing thirteenth.

NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series

2024 On October 25, 2023, it was announced that Love would drive full-time for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 2 Chevrolet in 2024, replacing Sheldon Creed. He began the season by winning the pole in his first career start at Daytona. He won the first stage and led a race-high 34 laps, before getting involved in a wreck during stage two. He went on to finish the race in twentieth. The following week at Atlanta, Love once again won the pole and went on to have a blistering performance, sweeping both stages and leading 157 of the 163 scheduled laps. The race went into overtime after multiple drivers ran out of fuel with two laps to go. Love sputtered his fuel tank on the final restart, and ultimately fell back to finish twelfth. At Phoenix, he had another solid run, and earned a career best second-place finish, only behind race winner Chandler Smith. The following four weeks, he continued a streak of top-ten finishes, including his third career pole at Texas. At Talladega, Love scored his first career win, holding off the field on an overtime restart.

2025: Series champion

Love started the 2025 season with a win at Daytona. Two months later, he won at Rockingham, but was disqualified after failing post race inspection; as a result, Sammy Smith was declared the winner. Love stayed consistent throughout the playoffs until he won at Phoenix to claim the Xfinity Series championship.

2026: Consistency Love started the season with a ninth-place finish at Daytona. Love led late at Phoenix, but was passed by eventual winner Justin Allgaier with ten laps to go. Following the race at Atlanta, Love earned a spot in "The Chase"

NASCAR Cup Series 2025-2026: Part-time basis On March 28, 2025, it was announced that Love would make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway for RCR, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet. Love started 19th and finished 31st five laps down. On April 16, it was announced that Love would drive for Beard Motorsports in the No. 62 at Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Love returned to the No. 33 in 2026, running races at Austin and Talladega. Love was planned to run Charlotte, but the team scrapped the plans. Love was scheduled to run more races in the No. 33 prior to the death of Kyle Busch, in which they rebranded his No. 8 to the No. 33 for the remainder of the season, with O'Reilly teammate Austin Hill driving the car for the remainder of the season.

2027: First full-time season On June 17, 2026, Wood Brothers Racing announced that Love will drive the No. 21 for them for 2027.

Other racing Super2 Series In October 2025, it was revealed that Love would make his debut in the Super2 Series at the Adelaide Street Circuit, driving a Holden Commodore ZB for Image Racing in an alliance with Erebus Motorsport and Richard Childress Racing.

Personal life Love is the son of Elizabeth and Jesshill Love. Jesshill raced midget cars in his youth and is a real estate investor and lawyer. Jesshill is the CEO of three real estate portfolios in California, former president of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization, and the CEO of HomeSmiles, a property maintenance company that supports Jesse's racing endeavors.

Love is of partial Mexican descent through his mother, who was raised in Mexico City.

Motorsports career results

Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Top 5 Top 10 Points Position 2020 ARCA Menards Series Venturini Motorsports 1 0 1 1 139 26th Bill McAnally Racing 3 0 1 1 ARCA Menards Series East Venturini Motorsports 1 0 0 1 120 13th Bill McAnally Racing 1 0 0 0 ARCA Menards Series West 11 3 9 10 613 1st 2021 ARCA Menards Series Venturini Motorsports 10 1 5 8 386 10th Bill McAnally Racing 1 0 0 1 ARCA Menards Series East Venturini Motorsports 4 0 0 3 182 11th ARCA Menards Series West Bill McAnally Racing 9 2 4 5 438 1st 2022 ARCA Menards Series Venturini Motorsports 14 1 8 12 603 11th ARCA Menards Series East 4 0 1 3 197 9th ARCA Menards Series West 2 0 1 2 130 26th 2023 ARCA Menards Series Venturini Motorsports 20 10 17 18 1057 1st ARCA Menards Series East 4 1 4 4 227 10th ARCA Menards Series West 1 0 0 0 18 71st NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Tricon Garage 3 0 1 2 85 37th 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Richard Childress Racing 33 1 7 18 2247 8th 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Beard Motorsports 2 0 0 0 0 NC† Richard Childress Racing 3 0 0 0 NASCAR Xfinity Series 33 2 9 22 4040 1st Super2 Series Image Racing 2 0 0 0 63 25th Mazda MX-5 Cup BSI Racing 2 0 0 0 390 42nd † As Love was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series NASCAR Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 2025 Richard Childress Racing 33 Chevy DAY ATL COA PHO LVS HOM MAR DAR BRI31 TAL KAN29 CLT NSH MCH MXC POC ATL CSC SON DOV RCH33 DAY DAR GTW BRI NHA KAN ROV LVS TAL MAR PHO 54th 01 Beard Motorsports 62 Chevy TEX31 IND24 IOW GLN 2026 Richard Childress Racing 33 Chevy DAY ATL COA PHO LVS DAR MAR BRI KAN TAL TEX GLN CLT NSH MCH POC COR SON CHI ATL NWS IND IOW RCH NHA DAY DAR GTW BRI KAN LVS CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*

O'Reilly Auto Parts Series NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Pts Ref 2024 Richard Childress Racing 2 Chevy DAY20* ATL12* LVS17 PHO2 COA6 RCH5 MAR9 TEX9 TAL1 DOV24 DAR8 CLT28 PIR19 SON12 IOW31 NHA13 NSH3 CSC5* POC22 IND13 MCH29 DAY21 DAR6 ATL6 GLN8 BRI4 KAN9 TAL6* ROV19 LVS6 HOM4 MAR12 PHO6 8th 2247 2025 DAY1 ATL16 COA6 PHO9 LVS3 HOM6 MAR37 DAR11 BRI6 CAR37 TAL3* TEX7 CLT12 NSH8 MXC18 POC2 ATL6 CSC6 SON38 DOV5 IND9 IOW2 GLN14 DAY4 PIR10 GTW5 BRI25 KAN7 ROV12 LVS6 TAL10 MAR23 PHO1 1st 4040 2026 DAY9 ATL5 COA4 PHO2* LVS6 DAR11 MAR12 CAR27 BRI12 KAN4 TAL7* TEX9 GLN2 DOV23 CLT2 NSH16* POC37 COR6 SON9 CHI3 ATL26 IND16 IOW35 DAY20 DAR GTW BRI LVS CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2023 Tricon Garage 11 Toyota DAY LVS ATL COA TEX BRD MAR KAN DAR NWS CLT GTW9 NSH MOH POC RCH IRP MLW 37th 85 1 KAN13 BRI TAL HOM PHO4 2026 Spire Motorsports 77 Chevy DAY ATL STP DAR CAR BRI TEX GLN DOV CLT NSH34 MCH COR LRP NWS IRP RCH NHA BRI KAN CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -* Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Menards Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Ref 2020 Bill McAnally Racing 19 Toyota DAY PHO16 TAL POC IRP KEN IOW12 KAN TOL TOL MCH DRC GTW5 L44 TOL BRI 26th 139 Venturini Motorsports 20 Toyota WIN4 MEM ISF KAN 2021 Bill McAnally Racing 16 Toyota DAY PHO6 TAL KAN 10th 386 Venturini Motorsports 15 Toyota TOL4 CLT MOH POC ELK2 BLN5 ISF5 MLW7 DSF10 SLM1 KAN 25 IOW7 WIN GLN MCH BRI7 2022 20 DAY PHO6 TAL KAN CLT IOW13 BLN3 ELK2 MOH5 POC13 IRP6 MCH GLN3 ISF1** MLW7 DSF2 KAN BRI10 SLM2 TOL2* 11th 603 2023 DAY7 PHO27 TAL1* KAN1* CLT1* BLN2* ELK1* MOH4 IOW3 POC1* MCH1 IRP1* GLN1 ISF3 MLW2 DSF1 KAN19 BRI2* SLM1** TOL2 1st 1057

ARCA Menards Series East ARCA Menards Series East results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts Ref 2020 Bill McAnally Racing 19 Toyota NSM12 TOL DOV TOL BRI 13th 120 Venturini Motorsports 15 Toyota FIF6 2021 25 NSM FIF NSV DOV18 SNM IOW7 BRI7 11th 182 15 MLW7 2022 20 NSM FIF DOV2 NSV IOW13 MLW7 BRI10 9th 197 2023 FIF DOV NSV FRS IOW3 IRP1* MLW2 BRI2* 10th 227

ARCA Menards Series West ARCA Menards Series West results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts Ref 2020 Bill McAnally Racing 19 Toyota LVS2 MMP1* MMP2 IRW1* EVG4 DCS3 CNS1* LVS3 AAS4 KCR8 PHO14 1st 613 2021 16 PHO6 SON19 IRW1 CNS2* IRW1 PIR3 LVS13 AAS12 PHO14 1st 438 2022 Venturini Motorsports 20 Toyota PHO6 IRW KCR PIR SON IRW EVG PIR AAS LVS PHO2 26th 130 2023 PHO27 IRW KCR PIR SON IRW SHA EVG AAS LVS MAD PHO 71st 18

CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.) CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Ref 2026 Matt Piercy Racing 7 Chevy SNM WCS NSV CRW ACE LGY DOM NWS26 HCY AND FLC TCM NPS SBO -* -*

CARS Super Late Model Tour (key) CARS Super Late Model Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts Ref 2021 Chris Wimmer 21L Toyota HCY GPS24 NSH JEN HCY MMS TCM SBO N/A 0

ASA STARS National Tour (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.) ASA STARS National Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts Ref 2023 Wilson Motorsports 20 Toyota FIF MAD NWS HCY11 MLW AND WIR TOL1 WIN NSV 23rd 155

Super2 Series results (key) (Race results only)