Jesse Love, fresh off his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship win last fall at Phoenix Raceway, enters the 2026 season determined to secure a consecutive title. The 21-year-old Californian faces the new campaign beginning this Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, where he will compete as the reigning race winner and championship holder. Love’s goal is to capitalize on his momentum and reinforce his standing among NASCAR’s elite drivers in the upcoming season.
Consistency and Growth Mark 2025 Season for Love and Richard Childress Racing
Love’s 2025 season underscored his steady performance, pairing nine top-five finishes with 22 top-10 results and improving his average finish to 11.1. While this performance outpaced his rookie year in 2024, Love and his team continue to view qualifying as an area requiring improvement. The No. 2 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) team, largely unchanged from last year, aims to enhance its speed and strategy before races to start stronger and increase overall competitiveness throughout the season.
Love himself recognizes the high expectations that come with defending a championship but remains cautious about relying too heavily on past glory.
“If you show up and are the right kind of champion, you still ride the wave, and the confidence is there because you can use the championship for the confidence boost that it is,”
Love said.
“At the same time, it’s still business as usual when you get back into the swing of things. And if it’s not, it’s probably a negative thing because people can get complacent pretty easily.”
Team Efforts to Address Weaknesses and Embrace New Playoff Format
Richard Childress Racing crew chief Danny Stockman is focused on pushing the team beyond last year’s achievements, emphasizing comprehensive improvement in all areas of competition.
“I stressed to my team this winter that it’s going to take more effort than last year did because we weren’t good enough last year at a lot of race tracks,”
he said.
“We were good enough at the final one, and we executed, and we put ourselves in position to get to that point. There were a lot of areas that we needed to get better and that’s what we’ve been focusing on this winter.”
Stockman added,
“We have to step it up a notch, and I think this team is more than capable of that.”
The upcoming introduction of The Chase postseason format in 2026 is expected to reshape the championship landscape, but both Love and Stockman believe their focus on consistency and careful equipment management will serve them well.
“If you look at my stats over the years, when we won those championships with Austin [Dillon], it was consistency,”
Stockman said.
“Jesse and Austin’s racing style of how they take care of their equipment and run all the laps and don’t cause problems, that is going to play big in this new format.”
Love also expressed confidence in their approach, remarking,
“If you’re not going to perform in the first 24 races, you’re probably not going to go on a run the last nine races. As far as how it affects the drivers and teams, I don’t think it changes anything.”
Evaluating Competitors and Predicting a Competitive Season
Looking ahead to contenders in 2026, Love identified last year’s series champion Justin Allgaier as a formidable rival who will once again challenge for the title. He also named Joe Gibbs Racing’s Taylor Gray and rookie Brent Crews as strong competitors on the rise. Stockman joined in, mentioning Sam Mayer as another key driver to watch.
“I don’t see a standout like we saw with Connor last year,”
Stockman said.
“I feel like it’s going to be a competitive season and a lot of winners.”
Love’s Ambitious Plans Beyond the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Love has made it clear that 2026 may be his final season in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series as he seeks to advance to NASCAR’s Cup Series full time. In 2025, he gained valuable experience in the Cup Series through limited starts with Richard Childress Racing and Beard Motorsports, achieving a best finish of 24th at Indianapolis. Still, Love knows that sustaining a championship caliber performance and accumulating wins in 2026 are essential to securing a full-time Cup ride.
“I think that I’ve proven that I’m a champion, and that’s an important piece,”
Love stated.
“I think I’m pretty complete as a driver. I haven’t said this a whole lot yet, but if I’m not in a Cup car next year, then I don’t know what I will do, but sprint-car racing and stuff like that sounds very appetizing. I don’t plan on running a fourth year in an [O’Reilly] car; I don’t plan on doing anything else in 2027 but getting into a Cup car full-time. I plan on this year becoming as perfect as I can in every aspect of racing to put myself in position to be able to achieve that.”
Confidence in Success, Acknowledgment of Challenges Ahead
While Love is confident he would be capable of competing at the highest level if a Cup opportunity arose in 2026, he acknowledges the intense competition and uncertainty involved in making that jump immediately.
“There’s probably no option but going into a Cup car if you win a bunch of races,”
Love said.
“What I plan on doing this year is winning another championship and winning a lot of races and that will force me to a Cup car. I’m also aware that next year, a driver could do everything right and not achieve those goals and that could keep them out of a car even if they are capable of doing it.”
He further added,
“I feel very confident with the people we have around RCR and where we’re starting off this year, to be able to win a lot of races and secure my future. To answer your question bluntly, I feel if I do everything right next year, I don’t even know if I want to say it out loud. But I do love sprint-car racing a lot, I do love midget-racing a lot and dirt-racing in general and I don’t plan on racing a fourth year in an [O’Reilly] car by any means next year.”
Anticipating a Season of High Stakes and Transition
The 2026 season represents a crucial turning point for Jesse Love as he aims not only to defend his NASCAR championship title but also to solidify his career trajectory towards the Cup Series. With a highly capable team behind him, a competitive field of drivers emerging, and a new playoff structure in place, Love’s resilience and determination will be tested more than ever. His performance this year could define whether he advances to NASCAR’s premier level or reevaluates his racing future with other disciplines like sprint car and dirt racing.
