LOUDON, N.H. – In his first visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Jesse Love battled to a 13th-place finish Saturday with the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Love, the standout 19-year-old rookie from Menlo Park, Calif., was forced to adapt as the SciAps 200 went on, due to practice and qualifying being rained out at the 1.058-mile oval.

He started 15th by virtue of NASCAR’s metric system, and while he didn’t pick up stage points during the first two 45-lap stages, Love used pit strategy to position himself toward the front of the field in the second half.

Crew chief Danny Stockman called for Love to stay out during the seventh caution flag of the day, allowing Love to lead three laps ahead of a lap-175 restart.

However, Love lost some track position once the green flag waved, getting shuffled back after spinning the tires. He eventually faded to 13th, but finished ahead of where he started for the seventh time this year.

 

“We fought hard today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This was my first race here, so it took a little longer to get a feel for the car with practice being rained out,” explained Love. “Danny Stockman and the No. 2 team did a great job with strategy to gain track position. We worked on the Whelen Chevrolet every chance we got. Towards the end we decided to stay out and picked up the lead, but on the restart, I spun the rear tires and lost some positions. That hampered us a bit down the stretch.

“To finish 13th in my first start at this track is a testament to my Richard Childress Racing team. We will rebound and head to Nashville next week.”

Love sits seventh in Xfinity Series points with 10 races left in the regular season, 123 back of leader and defending series champion Cole Custer. He’s earned one win, three top-five, and seven top-10 finishes.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads next to Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway for the running of the Tennessee Lottery 250 at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.

Race coverage begins Saturday, June 29 at 5 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.