Jesse Love encountered a ‘series of emotions’ in Rockingham because he was ‘upset’ on the restart

Richard Childress Racing driver Jesse Love made an aggressive pass on race leader Sammy Smith during the final overtime restart at Rockingham Speedway on Saturday to take his second victory of the season on the track (he was disqualified after inspection). In the post-race interview, Love opened up about going through a range of emotions in the final stages of the race as he kept shuffling in and out of the lead.

The North Carolina Education Lottery 250 was the first Xfinity Series race held at Rockingham Speedway since 2004, and it delivered a lot of excitement. The race saw 17 lead changes between eight drivers, and RCR's Jesse Love led on six different occasions for a total of 53 laps.

While leading the race at the second-to-last red flag restart, Love lost the lead to Sammy Smith, and it looked like his chances of victory were over. However, another red flag came out on the very next lap, triggered by Connor Zilisch, and sent the race into overtime.

At the final restart, Love, starting from the second row, pushed Smith up the racetrack coming out of Turn 1, retook the lead, and went on to cross the finish line first.

In the post-race interview, Love opened up about feeling a 'series of emotions' during the final laps of the race.

"It was a lot and I kind of went through a series of emotions because I was so upset that I didn't pack the right side enough that (second to last) restart and ran out for a split second and lost the lead," Love noted. "And then I just ran a bunch of scenarios through my head, and I am trying to pick one that had the most likelihood of working out, but also probably the most risk."

"You know, I was just trying to go through the bottom or push the #8 clear, then jump to his right rear quarter panel, instead I got into his back bumper, which wasn't what I intended to do, but obviously it worked out… But overall, I've got to be aggressive and take what was ours today. We had the best car on the racetrack," he concluded.

While Love did take victory on the track, he was later disqualified after post-race inspections.

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Sammy Smith inherits Rockingham win from Jesse Love

After a post-race inspection, NASCAR officials disqualified Jesse Love’s No. 2 Chevrolet due to a technical infringement. That handed the win to Sammy Smith, who had originally finished second. The rule violation was with the car’s rear suspension.

According to Motorsport.com, NASCAR gave the following statement following the inspections of Love's Whelen Chevrolet:

"All mating surfaces between the truck trailing arm and the U-bolt saddle must be in complete contact with each other."

Jesse Love responded to the news with humor. He made a lighthearted post on X, joking about the fact that NASCAR would be asking for the winner’s trophy back.

"Good thing my house has a safe 🏆," he wrote on X.

As a result of the disqualification, Jesse Love also had to see his bonus point for the fastest lap of the race disappear. It was given to Ryan Sieg.