For Jesse Love, a victory at Phoenix Raceway won’t (directly) give him the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship like it did last November, but it certainly won’t hurt the Richard Childress Racing driver’s quest to win back-to-back championships.
Love, driving the No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro, paced the field for a race-high 156 of 200 laps on Saturday evening, but found his second victory of the season in jeopardy late in the race, as Sam Mayer posted a major challenge to the defending series champion.
Although at times it was nip-and-tuck, Love was able to hold off Sam Mayer to win Saturday’s Timberland Pro 200, his second victory of the year (both in the post-season) and the fifth of his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series career.
“I would say it’s a day we prepared for, not just dreamed of,” Love said post-race. “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… Grateful to the fans for coming out. It’s my favorite racetrack. I love coming to Arizona. I’m a West Coast kid.”
With his victory, Love surges to a commanding lead in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series point standings, heading to Talladega Superspeedway with a 36-point advantage over Justin Allgaier.
Sam Mayer rebounded from a mechanical issue in practice and a rear-of-the-field starting spot to collect his best finish in over a year, second. Justin Allgaier brought his No. 7 home in the third position, with Corey Day in fourth and Sammy Smith rounding out the top five.
Brandon Jones, Dean Thompson, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth, and Carson Kvapil completed the top-10.
Parker Retzlaff (11th), Taylor Gray (28th), and Sheldon Creed (32nd) were the three drivers in the 12-driver Chase for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship that failed to finish inside the top-10. Creed, who entered the night as the points leader, experienced mechanical issues after the first stage and lost three laps, never fully recovering.
Next for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is a trip to Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 24 at 3:30 PM ET on The CW.
