“The sacrifices that he’s made, the miles that we’ve travelled together, and the nights in the shop. It’s a debt I know, I’ll never be able to repay, but I’ll spend my entire life trying,” An emotional Jesse Love shared this during the NASCAR Awards night, paying tribute to his father after clinching the Xfinity Series title. Racing against three JR Motorsports cars, few expected the 20-year-old to succeed at Phoenix Raceway, particularly against an in-form Connor Zilisch. But the Richard Childress Racing driver triumphed against all odds, and acknowledged his first and constant influencer, Jesshill ‘Duke’ Love.

‘Duke’ has been helping Jesse Love chase the dream of living life in the fast lane since his son was just five years old. A former midget racer himself, Jesshill Love shared tracks with legends like Jeff Gordon back in the good ol’ days, and turned those travels to the West Coast midget events into lifelong lessons that his son continues to follow to this day. That early fire set the stage for something truly special. As the cheers settled after Phoenix, that unbreakable bond pulled Jesse back to remember the importance of his dad in his career.

Dad’s tough love and sacrifices behind Jesse Love crown

In the debut episode of the RISING series by NASCAR, Jesse Love‘s eyes appeared emotional and teary as he unpacked the weight of his dad’s value in his life. “He’s the most special person in my life,” Jesse said, pausing to steady himself. “We’ve been through a lot together, and he just sacrificed a lot for me and put his life on hold.” Duke had done more than show up and just motivate his son; he’d poured 15 years of his life into his son’s path, starting with late nights wrenching on a borrowed truck from his Uncle Tony.

As a real estate investor and lawyer by profession, Duke still loaded trailers, changed tires, and traveled to races in California, Idaho, and Oklahoma with his son. Those sacrifices weren’t just about giving his time to his son; they were about Duke sidelining his own career to fulfill Jesse’s talent, believing in a kid who became the youngest ARCA West champ at 15 in 2020. That title win at Phoenix wasn’t his alone but a payoff for a dad who’d sacrificed a lot for his son to lift that trophy.

The emotion peaked when Jesse recalled a piece of advice that echoed through his career. A few years ago, Duke had pulled him aside before a race where their team held an edge with fresh motors and tires. “If I knew we were going to a weekend and we, like, had an advantage on the field,” Jesse recounted Duke saying, “I would make your car super loose, just to make you, like, work at it and not just go out there and learn nothing and lead every lap.”

“He’s the most special person in my life.”

See more of the incredible relationship between @jesselovejr1 and his father during tonight’s debut episode of RISING! pic.twitter.com/rb83wqPdc6

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 17, 2025

It was tough love from a dad at its core, as Duke taught Jesse to never be comfortable and fight for every inch, as nothing in life comes easy. And that tough love built resilience in Love that shone in Phoenix’s final 30 laps, where he held off challengers to seal the win. That approach stemmed from Duke’s own early West Coast events, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Jeff Gordon, where survival meant adapting fast. Jesse’s tears in the RISING episode weren’t just joy; they were gratitude for a father’s sacrifices that even Jesse won’t be able to repay in this life.

Duke captured it best himself after the checkered flag: “To say that today is like a dream come true just doesn’t get the point across. All the racing dads out there, they get it, right? You’re putting these kids today in cars at 5 years old… and that’s a decade plus of blood, sweat, and tears. … Those last 20 laps were the culmination of 15 years behind the wheel.”

His words landed like a life lesson and as an eye opener, because those words underscore how he’d shaped Jesse Love with his blood, sweat, and tears, and not by simply relying on luck or chance. Shaping such a career doesn’t happen overnight. It takes decades to build characters that shine in crunch moments like Love’s final 25 laps.

With family roots running so deep, Jesse now looks forward to 2026, which will be the start of new rivalries.

Chasing growth beyond the rivalry

Jesse Love’s 2025 duel with best friend Connor Zilisch pushed him to limits he didn’t even know he had. It turned their friendship into fierce battles throughout the year. Zilisch dominated the regular season, but Love flipped the script at Phoenix, nosing ahead in the final 20 laps for the crown.

It stung Love to lose races to Zilisch so often this season, but he never lost the edge even after his best friend dominated. Now, with Zilisch headed to the Cup Series with Trackhouse, Jesse will miss having a rival who will push him to his limits and will have to lean on inner motivation to defend his throne.

In a candid chat with Eric Estepp, Jesse laid it bare: “For me, this year it was trying to beat somebody. And for the most part, I haven’t really told him this, but for the most part, it was Connor, right? And next year, I don’t know what my motivation’s necessarily going to be yet. I know that deep down my biggest motivation is that I want to make my dad proud, and I want to represent God well… I just want to be better than I was yesterday.”

It’s the character of Love that does not see Zilisch as a rival but as a motivation or a way to be better on the track. And this mindset of Love echoes how Duke’s lessons built him, like those intentional loose-car setups.

At Pocono, Love admitted, “That’s the most focused I’ve ever been inside a race car. I did not want Connor to beat me because I’ll have to hear about it for a long time. Hats off to him. He ran a good race… But that bums me out, I’m not going to lie.” ThoughConnor  Zilisch won the Pocono race with a razor-thin pass of 0.437 seconds, Love admitted the edge that his friend pushed him to the limit as well. But with the 2026 season just around the corner, Love has a quiet resolve for another title with Richard Childress Racing.