Xfinity Series: Jesse Love wins in chaotic return to Rockingham

Written by Bailey Defoor

Credit: James Gilbert / Getty Images

Jesse Love adds his name to the history books after winning on NASCAR Xfinity’s return to Rockingham. The last time NASCAR raced in Rockingham was 2004, so everyone was prepared for an edge-of-your-seat thriller. It sure did not disappoint.

As it unfolded

Connor Zilisch qualified on pole but had to start at the rear due to a flat tyre. Parker Retzlaff inherited the lead on the outside with Nick Sanchez on the inside. Sanchez took the lead into the first turn.

A brief moment for Kasey Kahne on lap 4, where his car went loose, forcing Justin Allgaier to go wide. This also opened the door for Christian Eckes to pass for sixth place.

The first caution came on lap 12 as Vicente Salas got loose and spun on the backstretch from 36th, hitting the inside wall.

Sanchez and Retzlaff led the field back to green on lap 18. Retzlaff had a bad start as William Sawaich and Love got past Retzlaff by the end of the lap.

Love got ahead of Sawalich on lap 25, and Love caught up to Sanchez on lap 43 to challenge for the lead. Sanchez went loose and almost into the wall on lap 45, allowing for Love to pass for the lead.

A second caution on lap 52 as Sawalich attempted to lap Katherine Legge and made contact. Legge went sideways and slammed head-on into the wall. Kahne had right front damage after being tagged during the spin, and Sawalich had slight left front damage. All drivers made it to pit road.

Front-runners pit, including leaders Love and Allgaier. Allgaier, Carson Kvapil, and Brandon Jones make it out of pit road before Love due to contact between him and Thomas Annuziata in the pit lane. Sanchez stayed out with Retzlaff and led the field back to green on lap 59.

Stage 1 Results:

No. 48 - Nick Sanchez (Big Machine Racing)
No. 4 - Parker Retzlaff (Alpha Prime Racing)
No. 39 - Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing)
No. 42 - Anthony Alfredo (Young’s Motorsports)
No. 27 - Jeb Burton (Jordan Anderson Racing)
No. 28 - Kyle Sieg (RSS Racing)
No. 1 - Carson Kvapil (JR Motorsports)
No. 99 - Matt DiBenedetto (Viking Motorsports)
No. 51 - Jeremy Clements (Jeremy Clements Racing)
No. 20 - Brandon Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing)

Those who did not pit under the caution pit at the end of the stage. Retzlaff has a slow stop, losing out on a few places on pit road. Kvapil and Brandon Jones come out on top and take the field to green on lap 71.

Kvapil gets the jump on Jones, pulling Taylor Gray forward with him. Love also gets ahead of Jones on lap 72.

On lap 79, Love also got past Gray for second and began charging toward Kvapil.

Love passed Kvapil on lap 97 but brushed the wall between turns 1 and 2, allowing Kvapil to retake the lead into turn 3.

Zilisch slowed from 7th on lap 106, suffering from a flat right tyre.

The fourth caution of the race came on lap 109 as Justin Bonsignore got loose and hit Sheldon Creed into the wall.

Most of the field pits, Jones making it out of pit road first. Dean Thompson and Jeb Burton took the lead. They led the drivers back to green with 3 to go in Stage 2. Thompson got away clean

Stage 2 Results:

No. 26 - Dean Thompson (Sam Hunt Racing)
No. 27 - Jeb Burton (Jordan Anderson Racing)
No. 51 - Jeremy Clements (Jeremy Clements Racing)
No. 99 - Matt DiBenedetto (Viking Motorsports)
No. 42 - Anthony Alfredo (Young’s Motorsports)
No. 20 - Brandon Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing)
No. 2 - Jesse Love (Richard Childress Racing)
No. 1 - Carson Kvapil (JR Motorsports)
No. 28 - Kyle Sieg (RSS Racing)
No. 54 - Taylor Gray (Joe Gibbs Racing)

Those who did not pit under the last caution pit now as Jones and Love cycled up to the front. They led to the green flag on lap 129. Love got aggressive in using the outside lane and got in front of Love.

Before the lap finished, another caution flew as Sawalich went three-wide with Brennen Poole and Annunziata into turn 3 and spun when Annunziata got loose on the inside, making contact with Josh Williams.

Love made the same move over Jones for the lead on the restart on lap 133.

The seventh caution of the day came on lap 138 as Greg Van Alst spun from 34th in turn 1.

Once again, Love lined up on the outside and Jones on the inside as they took the field to green on lap 143. Love immediately pulled away. Kvapil jumped up to challenge Jones for second place and took the place.

On lap 148, Patrick Emerling slowed with a flat right front tire after being spun by Thompson from 10th as Thompson tried to avoid Retzlaff on the back straight.

A few drivers pit under caution. Eckes came out of pit road first in 22nd place.

Love and Kvapil led the field on lap 155. Kvapil challenged Love but couldn’t get the move to stick before Love pulled ahead, keeping the lead.

A few laps later, another caution came when Bonsignore spun down the backstretch from 11th after contact with J. Burton in turn 2. All cars on the lead lap pitted, and Kvapil and Gray both jumped ahead of Love on pit road. Love was blocked from exiting his stall by Annunziata again.

Ryan Sieg and Eckes led the field on lap 165, and Kvapil was almost sent into the wall by a late move from Daniel Dye. R. Sieg held onto the lead as Love passed Kvapil and Austin Green for fifth place.

Zilisch, who was 2 laps down before the last few cautions and was given the free passes, stormed through the inside of Sam Mayer, Green, and Kvapil in one corner, and 8 spots total since the restart. By lap 176, Zilisch was running in 7th.

Another caution on lap 181 as Kyle Sieg spun off turn 2 from 17th. While trying to avoid K. Sieg, Ryan Ellis hit the back of Jeremy Clements and spun down the backstretch, suffering heavy front-end damage.

Eckes and R. Sieg led the field on lap 189. R. Sieg took the lead from the inside as Love did a crossover move on the backstretch to get by Eckes for 2nd. Love continued challenging R. Sieg as the two pulled ahead of the rest of the field.

As R. Sieg reached the back of the field, Love caught up, and the gap that previously expanded to nearly a second was just two-tenths by lap 213.

Love fought side by side for the lead starting on lap 217, eventually having to back out of it.

On lap 225, Love got alongside R. Sieg again, but could not make the move stick. Just as Love almost lost the car, another caution was called on lap 227.

Blaine Perkins blew a tyre entering turn 3 and hit the wall while running 26th. Some drivers pit under caution.

Slight contact between Nick Sanchez and Josh Bilickin in pit lane, but Sanchez got off pit road first with no damage to either car.

R. Sieg had a good start on the inside of Love on lap 232. R. Sieg was a little high just as Love was in the process of passing, and another caution was called. R. Sieg was the leader at the time of caution.

Dye spun between turns 3 and 4, making contact with Bilicki and Kahne on lap 236.

R. Sieg sputtered on the frontstretch and dropped to 7th after not being able to maintain the speed due to low fuel.

Love and Sammy Smith line up to lead the field on lap 241. Love got a good start, just as a large crash collected 9 cars. It started as a caution but became a red flag due to the damage and debris on the track.

On the restart, Eckes stumbled from fourth and caused a chain reaction. Allgaier, Sanchez, Jones, Kvapil, R. Sieg, Green, Annuziata, and Clements were collected in the crash.

The cars refire and get back on track. Love and S. Smith lead the way to green with 4 to go. S. Smith got a good restart as Love stumbled to get going.

Cars drop as cars run out of fuel, and another caution is called on lap 248 as another crash happens. Mayer sank through the field, Zilisch got tagged by J. Burton, and clipped Mayer. Mayer spun out, collecting Matt DiBenedetto and Kvapil as well. Another red flag is thrown as the race goes into overtime.

S. Smith chose the inside, and Gray chose the outside for the restart with 2 to go in overtime. S. Smith pulled ahead with Love just behind him.

Love took the lead after S. Smith slid high, as Gray fell back.

After 14 cautions, Love took the checkered flag at The Rock.

Provisional Results