“As a friend, I’m happy for him. As a competitor, I’m upset for myself.” Jesse Love said these words after finishing runner-up in the Xfinity Series race in Pocono. The Richard Childress Racing driver had a legitimate chance to snag the victory after Justin Allgaier and Chase Elliott fell back on a restart. However, Love had another peer close on his heels soon after, Connor Zilisch. The latter beat him seamlessly – but instead of heartbreak, Love took it in stride.

That is because of the two drivers’ bubbling friendship. Indeed, the two compete fiercely with each other on the racetracks, but they are endearing friends off the tracks. NASCAR fans got a taste of that recently in a hilarious social media post.

Connor Zilisch had a romantic birthday

Well, that certainly sounds interesting, right? Although we have yet to receive evidence of the JR Motorsports prodigy’s dating life, Connor Zilisch did engage in some romantic activity recently. After all, love has been in the air ever since Coldplay’s concert in Massachusetts. Chris Martin, the band’s lead singer, was taking a break when the kisscam zoomed in on a particularly shy couple. This seemingly simple moment snowballed into a viral piece of news, as the couple was wrapped in controversy. People on social media have replicated that moment millions of times by now. Jesse Love did not want to miss out on it either for his best friend’s birthday.

Connor Zilisch turned 19 recently and celebrated his birthday in a special way. Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres world tour moved to Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, and Zilisch attended it. What is more, his best NASCAR buddy, Jesse Love, was also there. Not letting go of the opportunity, both of them recreated the iconic couple’s pose with mischievous expressions, and posted the picture on X. Zilisch was smiling ecstatically, and wrote: “Coldplay concert. Hoping to make it on the big screen @jesselovejr1.” Love, on the other hand, had a shocked face as if he spotted the camera unawares, and he wrote, “Don’t tell.”

It is safe to say that the drivers certainly share a fuzzy friendship. It was evident after Connor Zilisch hurt his back and Love relinquished all rivalry, genuinely worried about his friend. It was then that Zilisch proclaimed Love as his “best friend”. After beating his buddy at Pocono, Zilisch also revealed how both of them help each other: “It’s really cool to have someone like him that I can lean on and that also pushes me to be better, because I feel like we’re both pretty young and coming up, and I don’t want to get beat by him, and he doesn’t want to get beat by me either. So, it pushes both of us to be better.”

This iconic friendship has already caught the attention of the community. With their latest hilarious antics, fans were even more excited.

NASCAR fans cannot deny the chemistry

Both Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love had a lot of fun with their Coldplay chemistry. Fans were also enthralled by the two young racers’ playful post and joined in the fun. After all, it is not every day that you see two NASCAR rivals hugging each other at a concert. A fan wrote, “This the best s— I’ve seen all day.” The original Coldplay moment was highly controversial, as the couple turned out to be having an affair. Although both Coldplay and the concerned parties issued apologies, it allowed people to make funny parallels with it. One fan was amused that Love and Zilisch decided to do it, and played along with Love’s request, “I won’t.”

What this iconic birthday post did was boost Connor Zilisch’s already soaring popularity among fans. Both he and Jesse Love worked marvels on their PR campaign, as one fan pointed out: “This is the content that makes me a fan of yal.” What is more, both drivers bask in each other’s glow, whereas others are rough and rowdy. 5-time race-winning Zilisch works together with Love, who has Xfinity wins. Another fan admired this camaraderie: “every man needs a bro like this in their life.”

Connor Zilisch’s Cup Series ride for 2026 is almost confirmed, as he is expected to replace Daniel Suarez‘s No. 99 seat at Trackhouse Racing. Nothing is certain for Jesse Love yet, but the hints are in place considering his superb performance. One fan pleaded for both drivers to land on the same Cup Series team: “yeah these two need to be cup teammates one day, whether that’s with trackhouse, rcr, or another team (preferably penske).”

Clearly, Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love are a match made in heaven. With the 2025 Xfinity Series ongoing, let us see how these lovebirds outperform each other.