Rookie Richard Childress Racing driver, Jesse Love has bagged his maiden NASCAR Xfinity Series win at the Talladega Superspeedway. The 19-year-old driver had to earn this win a hard way in a double overtime finish, trying to fend off drivers from both the inside and the outside lane. Despite his lack of experience competing in the Series, he played his cards well and brought his car to victory lane.

In his last two Superspeedway races at Daytona and Atlanta earlier this season, Love could only manage #20 and #12 finishes. However, he was making progress with his consistent top-10 and top-5 finishes, which eventually resulted in a big win for him. Meanwhile, Ryan Sieg who had a heartbreak last week in Texas, will take home a sweet $100,000 payout as Dash4Cash winner, finishing the race 17th.

Jesse Love had flashbacks of his shortcomings from the Atlanta race

This wasn’t the first instance when Love was in prime position to win the race. Earlier this season in Atlanta, he had to give up on his maiden win in NASCAR because his car ran out of fuel. With a double overtime finish looming at large, Love once again found himself in the same position, but this time he pushed through and bagged his first win.

Speaking after the race, Love, expressing his winning emotions, said, “Man, I just wanted it so bad. I had PTSD flashbacks from Atlanta. I love Talladega, my favorite speedway, and I love the fans. Saw great people out at Boulevard last night wearing my shirts and everything.”

He even credited his win to his mentors and his racing team. “Danny Stockman, Duncan, Bug, everybody that leads this team and Danny Lawrance, Mike Dillon, Richard, thankyou guys so much… My team did a phenomenal job; we fought. I made some moves earlier on, and I was like, What are you doing dummy? That was not smart. I was just kind of going back and forth; I was doing a good job and then making dumb decisions.”

The big takeaway from Jesse Love’s win was how he managed to keep himself in the race despite all the chaos that ensued around him. Especially coming late in the final stage and in overtime.

Love played it smart to avoid the chaos late in the race

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Superspeedway races can quickly turn on its heads, and something similar happened with Austin Hill, who before his crash looked destined to win. Learning from his past experiences and managing his race better, Love somehow kept his nose clean and didn’t run into trouble. However, how he managed to complete the race is still a mystery, because, by all rights, his car was virtually running on the last drops of fuel.

However, the highlight of his successful run came during the climax of the race, where he fended off the late charge of Brenan Poole, who was looking to snatch the lead from Love. However, quickly realizing the threat, the teenager successfully checked up on Poole and quickly then shifted back to the inside lane. He sure did learn from his past mistakes at Atlanta and put them to good use for his first win at Talladega.