“I’ve prepared all night”: Jesse Love and Connor Zilisch share hilarious banter after threats to ‘the bro code’ at Talladega

NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers Jesse Love and Connor Zilisch exchanged hilarious banter on social media hours after being involved in a scary wreck at Talladega Superspeedway. Love and Zilisch were dueling at the front of the pack in the final stage, which ultimately ended in a crash for the #88 JR Motorsports driver.

The two Xfinity Series drivers share a close friendship and often exchange banter on social media. In the final stage at Talladega, they found themselves leading the pack, with Love trying to control all three lanes. With just over 20 laps remaining, Zilisch refused to cooperate with his friend, surging ahead on the outside lane.

Jesse Love was frustrated with Connor Zilisch, as he lost control of the pack and was shuffled four rows back to lead the middle lane. Responding to Zilisch's move, Love alleged over the radio that his friend had broken the "bro code" during the final stage.

"Tell Connor he's f***ing seriously breaking the Bro Code right now," he said. [via John Newby]

After being wrecked by his friend on the final lap, the JR Motorsports driver reacted to the radio snippet with the comment:

"Uhhhhhh…@jesselovejr1😭"

The #2 RCR Chevy driver responded in the comments, hilariously suggesting that Zilisch's loyal Twitter followers would bash him for the final-lap wreck. He wrote on X:

"I’ve prepared all night for the bashing I will receive from your loyal Twitter followers"

On the final lap, Connor Zilisch was in the lead and tried to block Jesse Love's move, but the contact resulted in a big impact with the inside barriers for the #88 JR Motorsports Chevy driver. Love checked on his friend in the infield care center, with Zilisch walking out without sustaining any injuries.

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Connor Zilisch opens up about his friendship with Jesse Love

The final-lap wreck at Talladega put Connor Zilisch and Jesse Love's friendship to the test, but the incident doesn't seem to have put a dent in it. Zilisch expressed his gratitude for having a friend like Love, who races hard on the track but cares for him off the track.

After exiting the infield care center, Zilisch addressed the media, admitting that the severity of the impact made him check his senses. He also touched on his friendship with Love, highlighting the strong bond they share both on and off the track. He said [via Bob Pockrass]:

"It was one of those wrecks, where you tingle your toes and move your legs and make sure you're still good... He [Jesse Love] was crying in there, he just wanted to make sure I was ok. He doesn't want to hurt his best friend and I wouldn't want to do that to him. I'm grateful to have someone like Jesse, we race hard on the race track but care about each other off the track."

With the race ending under caution, Austin Hill was declared the winner, while Love settled for a third-place finish. The final-lap crash dropped Zilisch to 27th in the final race classification.