Xfinity Series: Jesse Love takes win in a chaotic season opener at Daytona

Written by Bailey Defoor

Credit - Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

Jesse Love takes the white flag for the season opener in Daytona. This was a caution-filled and hard-fought race for Love, but he prevailed against all odds.

As it unfolded

Qualifying was rained out, so the grid was set using last season’s owner points. That made 2024 Xfinity Champion Justin Allgaier start on pole alongside Taylor Gray and featured four rookies in the top 10.

Allgaier took the outside line and kept it through the opening laps as Gray fell back, allowing Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed to move up. 

Close racing found the inside line to be better as Gray and William Sawalich jumped to the front of the field. By the end of lap 5, Allgaier and Hill were back to the front.

The first caution of the race came on lap 6. Brandon Jones was checked up, and there was no time to react. The crash collected quite a few drivers like Brennan Poole, Carson Kvapil, Harrison Burton, Garret Smithley, Connor Zilisch, and Daniel Dye. 

This incident took Dye and Jones out of the race.

The terminal damage on Jones' car | Credit - Meg Oliphant / Getty Images

Hill took the lead just before the caution with Creed behind.

The green flag flew again on lap 12 as Hill led the field. Creed lined up behind him and pushed him through the restart laps, allowing the two to keep the lead. 

Around lap 17, Allgaier started falling back out of the top 10

On lap 20, Poole’s hood came up on the front straight, forcing another caution. This was one of the consequences of the earlier incident, which left debris on the track.

Under this caution, Kyle Sieg has a driveshaft issue and had to be pushed back to the pitlane while other drivers pit as well. Sieg was forced to retire.

Racing went back to green flag on lap 25 with Hill and Gray leading the way. Gray immediately started falling through the field.

Stage 1 Results:

1. No. 21 - Austin Hill

2. No. 00 - Sheldon Creed

3. No. 48 - Nick Sanchez

4. No. 27 - Jeb Burton

5. No. 42 - Anthony Alfredo

6. No. 70 - Leland Honeyman

7. No. 7 - Justin Allgaier

8. No. 26 - Dean Thompson

9. No. 2 - Jesse Love

10. No. 54 - Taylor Gray

After the stage, many frontrunners pit, and Christian Eckes stops in a closed pitlane to examine potential damage.

When we went back to green flag racing, Allgaier was back in the lead alongside H. Burton. Allgaier kept the lead and there was a three-way fight for second between Sam Mayer, Josh Williams and H. Burton. Zilisch was shuffled wide in the fight and fell to the back of the field.

Sammy Smith joined the battle on lap 40 and challenged Allgaier for the lead, tossing it back and forth throughout the lap. By the end of the lap, Smith was in front.

On lap 42, Jeb Burton came up and snatched the lead away from Smith. 

Lap 45 had Hill come back up, and there was another change in the lead. The filed started filing behind Hill in a single file on the low line.

Stage 2 almost ended with no cautions until lap 59, when Nick Sanchez hit the side of the wall after contact with Creed. This makes the fourth caution of the race.

Stage 2 Results:

1. No. 21 - Austin Hill

2. No. 39 - Ryan Sieg

3. No. 00 - Sheldon Creed

4. No. 7 - Justin Allgaier

5. No. 26 - Dean Thompson

6. No. 27 - Jeb Burton

7. No. 54 - Taylor Gray

8. No. 18 - William Sawalich

9. No. 42 - Anthony Alfredo

10. No. 25 - Harrison Burton

    
    

After a cycle of pitstops, we were ready to go back to green flag racing. Hill maintains the lead alongside Gray.

Briefly, Gray took the lead and continued batting against Hill throughout the opening laps.

Creed moved to the inside, and with the help from R. Sieg, Creed battled against Hill for the lead. Together, they both surpassed Hill.

R. Sieg kept the lower light and continued fighting Creed at the front of the field.

On lap 71, Hill came back and resumed the lead.

With 45 laps left, smoke was spotted coming out of Hill’s car. Earlier, oil was spotted coming out of the 21, but it was not mentioned to Hill. 

The 31 of Blaine Perkins also began omitting smoke on lap 78. Perkins pits on lap 80 and 

Starting on lap 81, drivers begin pitting, including frontrunners Allgaier and Hill. R. Sieg keeps the lead. Allgaier had a long stop, stalling on his way out of the pit box, and Hill was moved to the garage.

As the second group of drivers attempted to pit on lap 87, the race's fifth caution was thrown. Upon entering the pits, Kris Wright’s car did not slow and plowed straight into Josh Bilicki. Wright reported having no breaks. 

For the restart on lap 96, Creed lined up alongside Love, with Mayer and H. Burton just behind. Love moving up.

Zilisch briefly jumped to the front of the field and continued battling against Love and Creed for the lead.

With eight laps to go, a sixth caution was thrown as Justin Bonsignore came in front of Allgaier and tagged Smith. When Smith was trying to avoid a crash, he ran into Anthony Alfredo. Carson Kvapil was also involved in the incident.

The green flag flew again on lap 117. The field was led by Love on the outside and Creed on the inside. 

Creed was initially jumped by Gray, but Creed came back for second place. 

On lap 119, Allgaier and Creed sandwich Zilisch, causing him to spin out. In the spin, Eckes, Sawalich, Parker Retzlaff, Greg Van Alst, and Ryan Ellis were collected.

This last lap caution sent the race into overtime.

The field was led by Love and Mayer, with Gray and Creed closely behind. Love immediately pulled away and in front of Mayer on the restart.

Another crash happened just as Love crossed the white flag. Allgaier, Josh Williams, J. Burton, R. Sieg, and Alfredo were all involved in the crash.

Credit - Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images

Provisional Results:

1. No. 2 - Jesse Love (Richard Childress Racing)

2. No. 41 - Sam Mayer (Haas Factory Team)

3. No. 00 - Sheldon Creed (Haas Factory Team)

4. No. 1 -  Carson Kvapil (JR Motorsports)

5. No. 32 - Jordan Anderson (Jordan Anderson Racing) 

6. No. 25 - Harrison Burton (AM Racing)

7. No. 26 - Dean Thompson (Sam Hunt Racing)

8. No. 51 - Jeremy Clements (Jeremy Clements Racing)

9. No. 07 - Patrick Emerling (SS GreenLight Racing)

10. No. 54 - Taylor Gray (Joe Gibbs Racing)

11. No. 99 - Matt DiBenedetto (Viking Motorsports)

12. No. 16 - Christian Eckes (Kaulig Racing)

13. No. 45 - Caesar Bacarella (Alpha Prime Racing)

14. No. 91 - Josh Bilicki  (DGM Racing)

15. No. 53 - Joey Gase (Joey Gase Motorsports)

16. No. 27 - Jeb Burton (Jordan Anderson Racing)

17. No. 24 - Ryan Truex (Sam Hunt Racing)

18. No. 7 - Justin Allgaier (JR Motorsports)

19. No. 39 - Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing)

20. No. 11 - Josh Williams (Kaulig Racing)

21. No. 70 - Leland Honeyman (Cope Family Racing)

22. No. 42 - Anthony Alfredo (Young’s Motorsports)

23. No. 71 - Ryan Ellis (DGM Racing)

24. No. 8 - Sammy Smith (JR Motorsports)

25. No. 19 - Justin Bonsignore (Joe Gibs Racing)

26. No. 35 - Greg Van Alst (Joey Gase Motorsports) [DNF]

27. No. 88 - Connor Zilisch (JR Motorsports) [DNF]

28. No. 18 - William Sawalich (Joe Gibbs Racing) [DNF]

29. No. 4 - Parker Retzlaff (Alpha Prime Racing) [DNF]

30. No. 44 - Brennan Poole (Alpha Prime Racing) (-1 lap)

31. No. 14 - Garret Smithley (SS GreenLight Racing) [DNF]

32. No. 5 - Kris Wright (Our Motorsports) [DNF]

33. No. 21 - Austin Hill (Richard Childress Racing) [DNF]

34. No. 31 - Blaine Perkins (Jordan Anderson Racing) [DNF]

35. No. 48 - Nick Sanchez (Big Machine Racing) [DNF]

36. No. 28 - Kyle Sieg (RSS Racing) [DNF]

37. No. 20 - Brandon Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing) [DNF]

38. No. 10 - Daniel Dye (Kaulig Racing) [DNF]

Per the new NASCAR Xfinity rule, the fastest lap for this race goes to Jeremy Clements, who set a 190.730 average speed, and will be awarded a point.