What could’ve been a second consecutive race win for Richard Childress Racing turned out to be a major heartbreak for both Jesse Love and Austin Hill. Especially for the latter, who was seconds away from the win, but got spun by Ross Chastain, only to see both of them run out of contention. And now, the drivers are firing back at him.

RCR drivers are not happy

“When Ross is behind you, I expect to get put firewall deep in the wall. I mean, that’s just the things that he does.”

These words by Austin Hill don’t feel surprising after Saturday’s race. Hill took a clean lead on the white flag and was leading smoothly on the way to his sixth win at the track. But one bump and it was all over.

“I could have very easily ended up hitting the wall head-on, but was able to save it as salvage a 12th place finish,” Hill added. “He got into my left rear and just didn’t lift.”

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While many argued that it was Hill’s fault for moving too late to defend Chastain’s attempt at taking the lead, even Hill’s RCR teammate, Jesse Love, was not satisfied with the move.

“I mean, you make your own rules, right. I don’t really believe in right or wrong, fair or not fair, especially on these kinds of race tracks,” he said.

However it was, Austin Hill failed to secure a second consecutive victory in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. This would have been special as well since it was his home race.

“I couldn’t care less to talk to Ross Chastain. I have nothing to say to him,” said a disappointed Hill.

Meanwhile, Chastain isn’t guilty, who called it nothing but a “racing crash.”

“If I would have went to his right rear, I think I would have had to lift out of [the gas], versus going to the bottom, I’d have been wide open,” Chastain said. “Coming to the checkered, I pulled out of line and he chased me down. I don’t blame him. I believe it’s a racing crash. It’s not an accident. We crashed. But yes, it was racing.”

He added, “I’ll see him in the gym on Monday, so we’ll be on the treadmill side-by-side going through a Chevy workout.”

While Richard Childress has got quite a grip in the NOAP Series, he has been missing that in the Cup Series. Now that Jesse Love is set to run in COTA, he will surely experience the difference.

Jesse Love to run at COTA for RCR

Jesse Love was earlier announced to run the Cup Series race at Talladega for Richard Childress Racing. However, he will be behind the #33 car at the Circuit of the Americas first. As per the official statement, he is set to run “several” Cup races this season, keeping in mind his competitiveness in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. But his schedule post these two races is unknown.

“Racing in the Cup Series is my goal and I’m ready to capitalize on these opportunities this season thanks to the strong team behind me at RCR including Richard Childress, Mike Verlander, Danny Lawrence and all the hard-working men and women at the race shop, ECR and CT Spring in Welcome, N.C,” Love said in a statement.

While Jesse Love enjoys an extremely competitive car in the NOAP Series with Richard Childress Racing (proven with his championship win last year), the team’s position in the Cup Series is quite different.

Despite being one of the oldest teams on the field, they continue to struggle with the Next Gen car. Kyle Busch has not won a single race with the team in the past two seasons, and his performance at Daytona wasn’t very surprising either. He clinched pole position but lost out to the competitors during the race.

Jesse Love is a promising driver, but as it seems right now, he will have to break the bond with RCR and find a seat with a more competitive team. At the same time, his part-time participation in the Cup Series under the RCR banner is a great way to raise some eyebrows with the likes of Hendrick Motorsports, considering Alex Bowman’s contract situation with the team.