Jesse Love Jr. (born January 14, 2005) is an American stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the

ARCA Menards Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three nation ...

Venturini Motorsports Venturini Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and ARCA Menards Series West. Founded in 1982 by Bill Venturini Sr., Venturini Motorsports is th ...

's No. 20

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, excluding 6 events. Love currently holds two records: He is the youngest winner ever in the ARCA Menards Series West, and the youngest winner ever in any NASCAR sanctioned event, both at 15 years, 5 months, and 13 days. He is also the youngest driver to win a NASCAR sanctioned championship; at age 15.. He was also the

ARCA Menards Series West The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racin ...

champion for

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Racing career

Love began racing at age five. Early in his career, he drove in the Quarter Midgets of America Series, where he won multiple races and championships before turning ten years old. He then went on to win championships in three different divisions of USAC in the same year, becoming the first driver to accomplish that. At age 13, Love, competing for Naake-Klauer Motorsports, was granted an age waiver to compete in the RPM Pro Late Model Series by Madera Speedway track promoter Kenny Shepherd due to his talent in the 51Fifty Energy Drink Jr. Late Model Series the prior year (in which he won another championship). In 2018, Love drove full-time in the INEX Legend Car Racing Series, winning five of the eight races on the schedule en route to that series' championship. The other series he raced in that year were the BCRA Midget Series and the Hunt Magneto Sprint Car Series, both of whom Love had to apply for an age exception to participate in. Love drove for Keith Kunz Motorsports in the SRL Southwest Tour, a

late model racing A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.) The precise definition ...

series, in 2019. On January 14, 2020, it was announced that Love would run full-time and for rookie of the year in the

in the No. 19

for

Bill McAnally Racing McAnally–Hilgemann Racing (MHR) is an American professional stock car racing team that competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team is based in Roseville, California, and is owned by Bill McAnally (in Truck, is co-owned ...

. He replaced

Hailie Deegan Hailie Rochelle Deegan (born July 18, 2001) is an American professional stock car racing driver. She competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 13 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing. Deegan is currently a Ford Perfor ...

in that car, who left the McAnally team and Toyota's driver development program to join Ford's driver development program, running full-time in the 20-race

for

DGR-Crosley TRICON Garage, formally known as David Gilliland Racing and Team DGR, is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the ARCA Menards Series, the ARCA Menards Series East, the ARCA Menards Se ...

. After finishing second in the season-opener at Las Vegas Bullring, Love won his first West Series race in the first of the two races in the doubleheader at the

Utah Motorsports Campus Utah Motorsports Campus is a race track facility located in Grantsville near Tooele, Utah, United States. It operated under the name of Miller Motorsports Park from 2006 until October 2015. The course has hosted auto, motorcycle, bicycle and kar ...

road course on June 27. It was just his second start in the series. In addition, Love and his BMR teammates would compete in the ten races of the 20-race

Sioux Chief Showdown The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three nation ...

. He made his debut in the first Showdown race at

Phoenix Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. ...

on March 6. A few weeks earlier, Love and his teammates also made their debut in the ARCA Menards Series East at New Smyrna; Love finished twelfth. Love finished the 2020 ARCA West season with 3 wins and 9 top 5 finishes in 11 races en route to the championship, beating out season-long rival

Blaine Perkins Blaine M. Perkins (born February 28, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Silverado for CR7 Motorsports and part-time in the ...

. He became the youngest West Series champion at just 15 years, 9 months, and 24 days old. In 2021, Love returned to BMR for his second season in the West Series, and moved from the No. 19 to the No. 16, replacing

Gio Scelzi Giovanni Scelzi (born November 28, 2001) is an American racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the World of Outlaws Nos Energy Drink Sprint Car series driving the #18 sprint car for KCP Racing. Racing career Scelzi began his career in ...

with the team condensing from four full-time cars to two and the No. 19 car being closed down. He also returned to Venturini Motorsports for a nine-race schedule in the main ARCA Menards Series (including all three combination races with the ARCA Menards Series East) as well as one non-combination race in the East Series (at Dover). In both series, he drove the No. 25.

Motorsports career results

ARCA Menards Series

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series East

ARCA Menards Series West

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Jesse Living people 2005 births Racing drivers from California People from Menlo Park, California ARCA Menards Series drivers ARCA Midwest Tour drivers