{"id":937510,"date":"2026-10-18T10:22:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T10:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/937510\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T10:22:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T10:22:34","slug":"nascar-news-jesse-love-dominates-phoenix-oreilly-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/937510\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR News: Jesse Love dominates Phoenix O’Reilly Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jesse Love dominated Phoenix Raceway<\/a> on Saturday, sweeping both stages and leading 156 of 200 laps to win the Timberland PRO 200 and open a commanding lead in the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Series Chase.<\/p>\n

\u2013by Mark Cipolloni\u2013<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old from Clovis, California, drove his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to victory by just 0.128 seconds over Sam Mayer, who charged hard from the rear of the field after an engine change. Love\u2019s win\u2014his second of the season and fifth of his career\u2014gave him 75 points and a 36-point advantage over Justin Allgaier (third) and a 39-point edge over Corey Day (fourth). Sheldon Creed, who entered the race with a two-point lead in the standings, dropped to fourth, 59 points back, after a disastrous finish in 32nd.<\/p>\n

Unlike last November, when Love clinched the title at this same one-mile track, three races remain in the new nine-race Chase format. Still, the result left little doubt who currently holds the upper hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say it\u2019s a day we prepared for, not just dreamed of,\u201d Love said. \u201cI\u2019ve got a great group around me, just preparing me to be in these situations, to be calm, cool and collected. I\u2019ve learned from a lot of mistakes that allow me to execute at a high level at a track like this. I\u2019ve been here, it feels like, a million times\u2026 Grateful to the fans for coming out. It\u2019s my favorite race track. I love coming to Arizona\u2014I\u2019m a West Coast kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout as his crew cheer after winning the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series Timberland PRO 200 at Phoenix Raceway on October 17, 2026 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The race\u2019s most dramatic moment came over the final 35-lap green-flag run. Mayer, in the No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet, closed the gap and stayed on Love\u2019s bumper to the checkered flag. He gained ground over the last two laps and nearly made contact coming off the final corner, but Love held him off.<\/p>\n

\u201cHats off to them, man,\u201d Love said of the Mayer team. \u201cThe 41 team did a great job coming from the back and making their car better. Honestly, it felt like they were a little better than we were at the end. I was having to just drive a lot over the tire to make any sort of lap time. I\u2019m just grateful to be in a situation to win races. I\u2019ve got a great pit crew who just maul everybody on pit road every week. It makes my job a lot easier. I\u2019m really proud of the whole group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayer, who stayed sixth in the standings (86 points behind), acknowledged how close the opportunity was.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood job to him\u2014he drove a great race,\u201d Mayer said. \u201cWe definitely pressured him the whole time. It came down to making a mistake or not, and he executed really well. Really close\u2026 The Hendrick Engine shop brought a really good engine for us\u2014two of them, technically I guess, \u2018cause we blew one up. I haven\u2019t had fun this year like that. That was just a lot of fun. It was just great racing, and hopefully we put on a show for everyone at home. That\u2019s some pretty big championship implications if we could have won that one. I\u2019m looking at the numbers right here, and they look pretty ugly for the old 41 and, honestly, the 00, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creed\u2019s day unraveled during the caution for the first stage break. A kill-switch malfunction shut off his Chevrolet, and he lost three laps on pit road while his crew worked to restart it. He finished 32nd, two laps down, and only climbed as high as he did through attrition. Sammy Smith finished fifth, followed by Brandon Jones (who lost a lap early after pitting for wet tires during a brief shower in the first stage), Dean Thompson, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth, and Carson Kvapil.<\/p>\n

Next up is the Progress Group 250 on Oct. 24 at Talladega Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET on CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

\"\"Jesse Love, driver of the #2 Whelen Chevrolet, wears a \u201c8\u201d hat, a tribute to the late Kyle Busch in victory lane after winning the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Series Timberland PRO 200 at Phoenix Raceway on October 17, 2026 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)
\nRace Results<\/p>\n

Fin
\nStr
\nNo.
\nDriver
\nTeam
\nLaps Led
\nLaps
\nStatus<\/p>\n

1
\n1
\n2
\nJesse Love (C)
\nWhelen Chevrolet
\n156
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

2
\n35
\n41
\nSam Mayer (C)
\nStarkey Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

3
\n13
\n7
\nJustin Allgaier (C)
\nRegistix Chevrolet
\n18
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

4
\n11
\n17
\nCorey Day (C)
\nHendrickCars.com Chevrolet
\n7
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

5
\n9
\n8
\nSammy Smith (C)
\nPilot Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

6
\n2
\n20
\nBrandon Jones (C)
\nMenards\/Monster Energy Toyota
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

7
\n17
\n26
\nDean Thompson
\nMCM Transportation Toyota
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

8
\n3
\n18
\nWilliam Sawalich
\nSoundGear Toyota
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

9
\n6
\n88
\nRajah Caruth (C)
\nHendrickCars.com Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

10
\n16
\n1
\nCarson Kvapil (C)
\nChampion Irrigation Products Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

11
\n18
\n99
\nParker Retzlaff (C)
\nFUNKAWAY Chevrolet
\n9
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

12
\n19
\n51
\nJeremy Clements
\nAllSouthElectric\/AllianceDriveawaySol Chev
\n1
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

13
\n36
\n24
\nHarrison Burton
\nKlutch Kares Toyota
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

14
\n25
\n32
\nAndrew Patterson
\nWinsupply Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

15
\n10
\n21
\nAustin Hill (C)
\nTitan Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

16
\n22
\n27
\nJeb Burton
\nAO Smith Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

17
\n15
\n96
\nAnthony Alfredo
\nVaVia Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

18
\n28
\n2
\nRyan Ellis
\nTablo TV Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

19
\n30
\n45
\nLavar Scott #
\nBender Extender Chevrolet
\n0
\n200
\nRunning<\/p>\n

20
\n8
\n19
\nBrent Crews # (C)
\nYoungLife Toyota
\n1
\n199
\nRunning<\/p>\n

21
\n27
\n48
\nPatrick Staropoli #
\nSyfovre Chevrolet
\n0
\n199
\nRunning<\/p>\n

22
\n7
\n87
\nNick Sanchez(i)
\nPeterson Racing Group Chevrolet
\n0
\n199
\nRunning<\/p>\n

23
\n12
\n39
\nRyan Sieg
\nSciAps Chevrolet
\n0
\n199
\nRunning<\/p>\n

24
\n14
\n31
\nBlaine Perkins
\nWERNER Chevrolet
\n0
\n199
\nRunning<\/p>\n

25
\n21
\n28
\nKyle Sieg
\nLIGHTING SouthWest Chevrolet
\n0
\n199
\nRunning<\/p>\n

26
\n23
\n92
\nJosh Williams
\nLucky Dog Mobile Groomer Chevrolet
\n0
\n199
\nRunning<\/p>\n

27
\n37
\n42
\nBrad Perez
\nSantiam Rentals Chevrolet
\n0
\n199
\nRunning<\/p>\n

28
\n5
\n54
\nTaylor Gray (C)
\nHomes For Our Troops Toyota
\n0
\n199
\nRunning<\/p>\n

29
\n24
\n53
\nWill Rodgers
\nDriving Good Health Chevrolet
\n0
\n198
\nRunning<\/p>\n

30
\n31
\n43
\nConnor Mosack(i)
\nLindamood Demolition Chevrolet
\n0
\n198
\nRunning<\/p>\n

31
\n34
\n0
\nGarrett Smithley
\nDozer Winch Parts Chevrolet
\n0
\n198
\nRunning<\/p>\n

32
\n4
\n0
\nSheldon Creed (C)
\nOllie\u2019s Chevrolet
\n8
\n198
\nRunning<\/p>\n

33
\n38
\n55
\nJoey Gase
\nFord
\n0
\n198
\nRunning<\/p>\n

34
\n20
\n91
\nLeland Honeyman Jr.(i)
\nDPR Construction Chevrolet
\n0
\n197
\nRunning<\/p>\n

35
\n26
\n44
\nBrennan Poole
\nFrontline Fire Protection Ford
\n0
\n197
\nRunning<\/p>\n

36
\n32
\n7
\nJosh Bilicki
\nSnowEX Chevrolet
\n0
\n179
\nBrakes<\/p>\n

37
\n33
\n47
\nDawson Cram
\nHoods Home Center Chevrolet
\n0
\n126
\nFuel Pump<\/p>\n

38
\n29
\n9
\nJake Finch
\nChevy Cares Chevrolet
\n0
\n54
\nEngine<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:\u00a0 96.373 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:\u00a0 2 Hrs, 4 Mins, 31 Secs. Margin of Victory:\u00a0 0.128 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:\u00a0 5 for 35 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:\u00a0 18 among 7 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:\u00a0\u00a0 J. Love (C) 1-31;S. Creed (C) 32-39;J. Love (C) 40-49;P. Retzlaff (C) 50;J. Love (C) 51-54;J. Allgaier (C) 55-71;J. Love (C) 72;J. Allgaier (C) 73;J. Love (C) 74-94;P. Retzlaff (C) 95;J. Love (C) 96-100;C. Day (C) 101-105;J. Love (C) 106;C. Day (C) 107-108;J. Love (C) 109-153;B. Crews # (C) 154;J. Clements 155;P. Retzlaff (C) 156-162;J. Love (C) 163-200.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):\u00a0 Jesse Love (C) 9 times for 156 laps; Justin Allgaier (C) 2 times for 18 laps; Parker Retzlaff (C) 3 times for 9 laps; Sheldon Creed (C) 1 time for 8 laps; Corey Day (C) 2 times for 7 laps; Brent Crews # (C) 1 time for 1 lap; Jeremy Clements 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,00,7,88,8,41,1,51,54,17<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 2,7,54,17,41,88,8,1,21,26<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jesse Love dominated Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, sweeping both stages and leading 156 of 200 laps to win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":937511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-937510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=937510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/937510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/937511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=937510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=937510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=937510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}