AVONDALE, Ariz. — As one driver celebrated with a massive burnout, another driver slumped on the ground next to his car shedding tears. This range of emotions just perfectly showed the nature of the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.
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Jesse Love experienced a mixture of excitement and relief. Connor Zilisch experienced heartbreak after he failed to close out a historic season with a championship win.
"Man, I mean, I feel like emotion is part of the sport," Zilisch said after finishing third in the most important race of the season. "You work so hard for 38 weeks, yeah, coming up short sucks.
"...I'm still so proud of my team, what we've accomplished this year. We have nothing to hang our heads about. We were the best car for two-thirds of the year. We dominated until these last three races. Yeah, it cost us a championship, so... We'll keep our heads high."
Justin Allgaier left Phoenix Raceway very disappointed after unsuccessfully defending his championship and closing out his relationship with crew chief Jim Pohlman on a high note. Carson Kvapil also left disappointed after falling short of his first win and the title as a rookie.
"I'm bummed because I wanted to send Jim off with a championship," Allgaier said after the race. "JR Motorsports as a whole, we didn't win an owner or a driver championship with three out of the four. That's super frustrating on my end, all of our ends.
"Jesse just did a really good job tonight. I mean, that last hundred laps for Jesse was probably one of the best drives I've ever seen him put on. I've seen him race open-wheel, ARCA. That's one of the best drives he's put on. Congrats to the 2 team. They deserved it tonight."
Early in the race, it appeared that Allgaier would battle with Zilisch for the title. Allgaier led a race-high 83 laps and won the second stage. He topped 1,000 laps led on the season. Zilisch led 27 laps and ran inside the top five in all three stages.
Love just didn't have the speed early in the race, but the team kept making adjustments to improve the car. Kvapil also spent the race outside of the top 10 before finishing 13th.
Allgaier had the lead during the final stage, but the situation completely changed with some late cautions. Love's pit crew nailed one pit stop to get Love the lead while Zilisch's crew had a slow stop.
Love's team then repeated this feat after another caution and pit stop while Allgaier lost spots with a slow stop.
Photo credit: Nigel Kinrade Photography
Once the Richard Childress Racing driver got the lead, he did not relinquish it. He remained out front for the final 25 laps of the race. He crossed the line first and won the race.
He won the championship, Richard Childress Racing's first since Tyler Reddick in 2019. Zilisch fell to third while Aric Almirola moved into second to win the owners' championship for Joe Gibbs Racing.
"I just feel so clean, relieved," Love said. "It's been a tough year for me. Man, I've just put so much work into it. People like my dad and Scott Speed, my whole 2 team, have worked just as hard for my dream as I have for my own.
"Man, thank you to Whelen. For one last time this car was fast as Xfinity Mobile. It really hasn't set in yet. I just tried to tune out all the emotion. It doesn't feel real at all (smiling)."
