Jesse Love Wins Xfinity Race at Rockingham in Overtime Fuel-Mileage Thriller
By Amanda Vincent
Jesse Love, who wasn’t born when the NASCAR Xfinity Series last competed at Rockingham Speedway in 2004, captured victory on the series’ return to the track in Saturday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 250. The race turned into a dramatic fuel strategy battle that stretched into overtime, and Love came out on top for his third career Xfinity Series win and second of the 2025 season.
“These fans are awesome, and this track is unreal,” Love said. “It’s all about going flat-out—right in my wheelhouse.”
A crash involving several drivers who ran out of fuel on lap 248, just two laps shy of the scheduled 250, forced the race into overtime. Sammy Smith was leading with Taylor Gray close behind, but Love made contact with Smith and took the lead.
Smith held on to finish second and also claimed the final $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus. Other Dash 4 Cash contenders were Brandon Jones (13th), and Smith’s JR Motorsports teammates Carson Kvapil (17th) and Justin Allgaier (22nd).
Parker Retzlaff came home third, followed by Harrison Burton in fourth and Brennan Poole in fifth.
The race, ultimately extended to 256 laps, was caution-filled in the second half, with 14 total cautions—nine of which came after lap 125. Love led 53 laps but briefly lost the lead during a lap-158 caution caused by Justin Bonsignore, when he opted to pit. Five drivers stayed out, with Ryan Sieg restarting as the leader.
Sieg led a race-high 77 laps before his car began to sputter during a caution on lap 236 for an incident involving Daniel Dye, Josh Bilicki, and Kasey Kahne. Love regained the lead while Sieg fell to seventh.
The final cautions, both from multi-car wrecks, resulted in red flags. During the chaos, Smith and Gray overtook Love before he eventually reclaimed the top spot.
Nick Sanchez won the first 60-lap stage, leading the opening 44 laps before Love passed him on lap 45. Pole sitter Connor Zilisch had to start at the rear due to a tire change post-qualifying. A caution on lap 52 involving Katherine Legge, William Sawalich, and Kahne bunched up the field with just two laps left in the stage.
During that caution, Love and Allgaier gave up front-running positions to pit. Sanchez and Retzlaff stayed out and ended up first and second in the stage.
Stage two, also 60 laps, ended with Dean Thompson scoring his first stage win, with Jeb Burton finishing second. Like stage one, there was a late caution on lap 110 involving Bonsignore and Sheldon Creed. Thompson and Burton were among seven who stayed out.
Kvapil led most of the second stage, battling closely with Love before the lap-110 yellow. Both Sanchez and Thompson celebrated their first career stage wins.
After pit cycles, Love, Jones, and Kvapil moved into the top three by the race’s midpoint.
Taylor Gray finished sixth, followed by Austin Hill in seventh, Josh Williams in eighth, Jeb Burton in ninth, and Daniel Dye rounding out the top ten.
