Jesse Love Dominates at Phoenix Raceway and Takes Command of the O'Reilly Series Chase

October 17, 2026

AVONDALE, ARIZ.

Last November at Phoenix Raceway, Jesse Love won the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series championship. On Saturday, at the same one-mile track in the desert west of Phoenix, he may have taken the biggest step toward doing it again.

Love dominated the Timberland PRO 200, then had to earn the finish the hard way, holding off a charging Sam Mayer by 0.128 seconds after a 35-lap green-flag run to the checkered flag. The win was Love's second of the season, the fifth of his career and his second at Phoenix — and because of the disaster that befell the man who started the day ahead of him, it flipped the Chase standings on their head. Love leaves Arizona with 2,367 points and a 36-point lead with three races remaining in the nine-race Chase.

The stat line reads like a rout. The 21-year-old from Clovis, California swept the first and second stages, led 156 of the 200 laps and scored 75 points — one short of the maximum available. He had also won the pole, calling his qualifying effort the best lap of his career. But the statistics, as the NASCAR Wire Service report carried by Jayski noted, do not tell the whole story — because the final third of the race turned into a test of nerve. Speaking to reporters after climbing from his car, Love credited the preparation of his Richard Childress Racing team.

Mayer's afternoon should have ended his chances before it started. An engine change forced his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet to start from the rear of the field. Instead, Mayer drove through the pack, reached second, and spent the closing green-flag run glued to Love's rear bumper. Gaining ground over the final two laps, he got to Love's bumper off the final corner — Speedway Media's lap-by-lap account had Mayer tagging Love's rear through Turns 3 and 4 on the last lap, sending both cars up the track — but Love kept the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in front and shut the door on Mayer's crossover attempt at the line.

"I would say it's a day we prepared for, not just dreamed of," Love said after climbing from his car. "I've got a great group around me, just preparing me to be in these situations, to be calm, cool and collected."

"I've learned from a lot of mistakes that allow me to execute at a high-level at a track like this," Love continued. "I've been here, it feels like, a million times… Grateful to the fans for coming out. It's my favorite race track. I love coming to Arizona — I'm a West Coast kid."

He was gracious about the man who nearly took it from him. "Hats off to them, man," Love said of Mayer's team. "The 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," Love added. "I'm just grateful to be in a situation to win races. I've got a great pit crew who just maul everybody on pit road every week. It makes my job a lot easier. I'm really proud of the whole group."

Creed's day unravels at the stage break

If Love's Saturday was near-perfect, Sheldon Creed's was a nightmare that started innocently enough. Creed entered the race holding a two-point Chase lead and finished second to Love in the first stage, running exactly the race he needed. Then, during the caution for the stage break, what the NASCAR Wire Service report called a "kill switch" malfunction shut off the engine of his Chevrolet, and Creed lost three laps on pit road while his crew tried to get the car to refire. He climbed only from 37th to 32nd by the finish through attrition, two laps down — and fell from first to fourth in the standings, 59 points behind Love.

Mayer, who remained sixth in the Chase, 86 points back, told reporters afterward that he knew exactly what the near-miss cost. "Good job to him (Love) — he drove a great race," Mayer said. "We definitely pressured him the whole time. It came down to making a mistake or not, and he executed really well. Really close…"

"That's some pretty big championship implications if we could have won that one," Mayer added. "I'm looking at the numbers right here, and they look pretty ugly for the old 41 and, honestly, the 00 (Creed), too."

Behind the lead pair, Justin Allgaier finished third and Corey Day fourth, keeping them second and third in the Chase at 36 and 39 points back. Sammy Smith was fifth, followed by Brandon Jones — who lost a lap early after a gamble on wet tires during a brief shower in the first stage — with Dean Thompson, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth and Carson Kvapil completing the top ten. Post-race inspection was completed with no issues, confirming Love as the winner; the only penalty was to the No. 42 car, which had one lug nut not safe and secure and will lose pit-stall selection next week. 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) — a very different kind of test for a points leader, and the first of the three races standing between Love and a second straight title. Follow the run-in on the Previously sports page.

Blaney takes the Cup pole for Sunday

Saturday's other headline at Phoenix belonged to the Cup Series, and it also cut against the points leader. Ryan Blaney claimed the pole for Sunday's Freeway Insurance 500 with a lap of 137.143 mph (26.250 seconds) — his fifth pole of the year, his fourth at Phoenix and the 17th of his career. Blaney, going for his third straight Phoenix win, sits fifth in the Cup Chase, 85 points behind leader Kyle Larson. His Team Penske teammate Joey Logano qualified second at 136.926 mph, just 0.032 seconds back, with Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell completing a top five made up entirely of the five drivers closest to Larson — while Larson himself qualified a disappointing 22nd. Sunday's 312-lap race starts at 3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, and it sets up as a golden opportunity for the chasers to eat into Larson's lead on a day he starts deep in the field.