Love Conquers All, Wins NASCAR Xfinity Title
Jesse Love, driver of the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
By Dennis Krause
In a year that was dominated by his best friend, Jesse Love book-ended the 2025 NASCAR Xfinity Series season that began with a win at Daytona International Speedway - and captured the championship by winning the series finale Saturday at Phoenix Raceway.
Love muscled his way past Connor Zilisch with 25-laps remaining in the 200-lap championship-deciding race on his way to his second win of the year and more importantly, his first NASCAR title.
One of the criticisms of NASCAR’s one race, winner take all format is that a driver can have a dominant season and still not win the championship. NASCAR dodged a bullet when Corey Heim, a 12-race winner in the Craftsman Truck Series, won the finale and title on Friday. The same could not be said for Love and the Xfinity Series. In a year when his best friend, Zilisch won 10 races and dominated the series, it was Love who was taking home the big trophy.
Jesse Love, driver of the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
The driver of the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing said he’s prepared for any blowback he’ll receive on social media as to whether or not he’s a deserving champion.
“Well, I really don’t give a (expletive) what people think,” Love said. “I get a big old trophy, I get a nice check, I get a lot of things that come out of this.
“At the same time, I’m not somebody that devalues what the fans say either, which kind of sounds contradicting now. When I say stuff and people call me out on Twitter or something, I do actually listen. Their opinions are valid. Obviously the world would be kind of a boring place if we all agreed on everything. That’s never going to happen.
“I don’t really care at the end of the day. But I still like to be a part of I guess the circle of life and see how people react to certain things. I have my thoughts on it. They’re going to have theirs. That doesn’t bother me at all.”
For Love, this season has been about comparing himself to Zilisch, who’s had a career year. That hasn’t been easy for the 20-year-old from Menlo Park, California.
“It’s been really hard this year, right? At the end of the day, I want to walk in the room and feel like the man, right? I did, right? For quite a while, once I had like my breakout ARCA season, I was the hottest thing for the most part with the exception of probably Corey (Heim). Then Connor kind of took that away from me. It’s been really tough, right? Hard to deal with that.
“Just the way that your friends look at you, the way the fans look at you, it’s all tough. It was a hard pill for me to swallow. But I knew at the end of the day…
“Well, I sat down and I was like I can’t control what Connor does, right, but I can control what I do. Every day I woke up, he’s motivated me to be better, right? I don’t like losing to him. I’ve woke up every day trying to beat him, probably, more than myself.
“As much as tonight makes me feel really good, I’m not going to have Connor to compare myself to next year. I’m going to have to change that mindset pretty quick.”
Connor Zilisch, driver of the No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet, (R) congratulates Jesse Love, driver of the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
But racing, and beating, his best friend to the championship?
“Yeah, it’s definitely great. We’re definitely going to celebrate. I’m not sure how Connor is going to react to all this. He came to me in Victory Lane because he’s a great person, but I don’t know, again, how he’s going to react to tonight. I’m not going to fault him in any way however he decides to react.
“Yeah, we’ll see. Obviously I’m going to be happy about it ’cause I pulled the long end of the stick or the wishbone. But we’ll see.”
Usually, when a driver wins an Xfinity Series championship, they have an opportunity to move up to the Cup Series level. Love, instead, will return to what will be the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026 along with some Cup Series starts. He hopes to represent the series like the previous champion has.
“I’m going to try my best to do it like Justin has,” Love said. “Justin Allgaier is such a phenomenal person. He can compartmentalize it really well where he can be the hardest competitor on the racetrack and still get out of the car and be a phenomenal human being first.
“I’d say I’m just going to try to be like Justin next year and represent the series like how he has. I learned a lot from him. He’s an amazing person.
“I actually lean on him a lot more than people probably realize, too. Even now to navigate the championship stuff this year. He’s just a great person. That’s who’s kind of going to be my probably example of who I want to be like next year. Except go back to back (smiling).”
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.