It looks like all the teams are really missing Kevin Harvick. Especially over at Stewart-Haas Racing, they’re feeling the absence of their most seasoned and successful driver. It was recently that his name came up while talking about the rising star Jesse Love, who’s been making waves on the track. 

Just last October, Richard Childress Racing announced that Jesse Love, fresh off winning the ARCA Menards Series title, would take over the #2 car in the Xfinity Series from Sheldon Creed. And now, it appears that move has paid off big time—you could see the pride all over Richard Childress’s face when he talked about Jesse Love in his latest interview with Racing America.

Richard Childress thinks Jesse Love and Kevin Harvick have a lot in common

Kevin Harvick kicked off his NASCAR career in the Truck Series before making the leap to the Xfinity Series with Richard Childress Racing back in 2000, clinching the championship in his rookie season. And now, Jesse Love is tracing similar steps, although he bypassed the Truck Series and headed straight for Xfinity. His rapid progression speaks volumes about his talent.

Richard Childress himself sees shades of Harvick in Love. During a recent press chat, Childress praised Love’s consistent track record, saying, “He’s a winner. From the time he was a young kid, all the way up, he’s just been a winner. Here at RCR, we’ve built a lot of champions over the years with our first win.“ 

Childress seemed optimistic about Love’s future, adding, “I think you’re going to see several championships come out of Jesse Love. He’s a brilliant young man, really good young man, and a heck of a race driver. You know, I try not to compare one driver to the next. But if I would take a look and just his attitude, not as tough, but I think he’s like a Kevin Harvick; he can drive a race car. He’s really young, he knows what he wants, he hates to lose. And that was the attitude that Kevin brought along. He’s just a solid race driver.”

Jesse Love has had a standout season in the Xfinity Series, participating in nine races so far with two top-5 finishes, three top-10s, and clinching a win at Talladega. His victory in the #2 Richard Childress Racing Chevy at the massive 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway marked him as only the seventh driver to grab his first win there.

Love truly deserved this win. He started off strong from the outside of the front row alongside his experienced RCR teammate, Austin Hill, and nabbed his fourth stage win of the season during Stage 1 and led 28 out of the 124 laps. Throughout the afternoon, he maintained a position in the top five, and when it came down to the final restart, he blasted ahead, taking the lead in overtime and holding off the pack to secure the victory.

The race, which was supposed to be 113 laps, stretched to 124 due to a second overtime prompted by several contenders ducking into the pits for fuel. Fortunately, Love had enough fuel to finish, making up for a previous strong run in Atlanta where he ran out of gas near the end. However, seasoned driver Denny Hamlin has expressed a bit of skepticism about Love’s win, suggesting it was the ‘easiest victory‘ because the top spots were filled with less experienced drivers.

Does Denny Hamlin think #2’s win at Talladega was more about the green field than sheer talent?

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Denny Hamlin didn’t exactly say Jesse Love won at Talladega just because of any other reason, but he did point out, “It was better than the ARCA race but also so frustrating at the same time because so many of these drivers are so inexperienced and doesn’t quite know that to go forward. You must use other car. I’m watching these guys and girls they’re running and instead of pushing whoever they get a huge run on they try to pass and then it just destroys their run, they go nowhere. And Jesse Love just you know has the easiest victory and first victory in the Xfinity Series for him.”

But people want to dive deeper into why Hamlin thinks pushing could be the answer. That’s because if one driver starts leveraging the push and draft, everyone else might follow suit, potentially turning the race chaotic.

As for Jesse Love, Talladega was a sort of redemption. Earlier in the year, at the Raptor King of Tough 250, he was close to clinching his first Cup win but ran out of fuel in the final moments. That miss must have stung, leaving him hungry for a win. But this time, he showed he could learn from past blunders and capitalized on his chances at Talladega.