As the NASCAR Xfinity Series kicks off its season, a reason has caught the garage’s attention after an unexpected start to the season.
Jesse Love joined Richard Childress Racing during the offseason after being announced as Sheldon Creed’s replacement in the No. This resolution was perceived as a shock, and even Love commented that this resolution was not what she expected.
It was widely believed that John Hunter Nemechek, who drove No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity Series in 2023, would be promoted to the Cup Series, driving the No. When that happened, many thought of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Host Corey Heim would get the call to upgrade Nemechek at the Xfinity competition.
In turn, Love, who participates full-time in the ARCA Menards series for Toyota-subsidized Venturini Motorsports, would upgrade Heim in garage No. 11 of TRICON. Love made 3 starts in the Truck Series for TRICON in 2023 (including a race at the World Wide Technology Raceway, where he drove the Heim No. 11 when Heim was absent due to an undisclosed illness), so this resolution would have made sense. What’s more, with Love subsidized through Toyota Racing Development, the switch from Toyota’s flagship ARCA team to Toyota’s flagship Truck Series team is a no-brainer.
But, surprisingly, Heim returned to his 11th full-time position for 2024, preventing Love from having the opportunity to compete full-time in Truck Series races. So when Creed left RCR, Love reached out through the team and Love decided to skip the race. Truck Series completely to advance its NASCAR Cup Series aspirations.
So far, this resolution has borne fruit. Although the effects on the scoreboard were a clever reflex, Love took back-to-back poles in the first two races of the season and dominated the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway before running out of fuel at the final restart. And all this without more than 3 races in the Truck Series.
Normally, a driver’s progression through the NASCAR rankings begins in the weekly Advance Auto Parts series before moving on to ARCA East or West full-time, or even the main ARCA series. After a year or two, the driver moves on to the Truck Series, then the Xfinity Series, and finally the Cup Series.
However, Love now joins a long list of drivers who made the jump directly to Xfinity from ARCA, avoiding a full season in the Truck Series. Recent hosts who have made this resolution include Ty Gibbs, Sammy Smith, Riley Herbst, and Daniel Suarez. Brandon Jones, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have taken action, as has Joey Logano.
Eventually, it looks like William Sawalich will be following in the footsteps of his ARCA rival Love. Even Frankie Muniz is in the same boat, moving from full-time ARCA to part-time Xfinity, with no Truck Series experience.
While you might think of the Truck Series as a stepping stone to good luck in the Xfinity and Cup Series, it turns out that it has worked well for the drivers who have. Gibbs, Custer, Stenhouse, and Suarez are Xfinity champions, while Logano is one of the luckiest Xfinity drivers without a title. In addition to two Xfinity titles, Stenhouse also earned a victory in the Daytona 500.
None of the indexed guys have raced a full season in the Truck Series. Hell, most of them haven’t even made more than 20 starts in their Truck Series career.
So how applicable is the Truck series for motive power development?
Don’t get me wrong, the series is actually made up of young drivers. However, the series is becoming more and more like ARCA, whether in terms of driver progression and on-track racing.
If you’ve been following ARCA for quite some time, you’re probably familiar with the term “ARCA brakes” circulating on the internet. This refers to ARCA controllers and their inability to slow down in time when an accident occurs, which inevitably fits into an integral component of the wreck. The first game of the 2009 ARCA season features many examples of “ARCA brakes” fitting into a problem, adding a terrifying twist of fate that hospitalized Patrick Sheltra and Larry Hollenbeck.
But respect within ARCA has also diminished with the increase in the number of young pilots in the game. Drivers have arrived who enter the game with less skill and more money and have drawn the ire of many fans, teams and drivers. up in NASCAR. Case in point: The story of Sean Hingorani and Dean Thompson at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last season.
Now, what does this have to do with the Truck series?
Well, let’s start with the fact that the Truck series has the same upheavals those days.
Disrespect in the Truck Series has been well-documented over the years, and it all came to a head in the disastrous 2023 championship race at Phoenix Raceway, in which an embarrassing driving demonstration among a host of drivers left enthusiasts feeling bitter. They have the series on their lips heading into the offseason.
But the Truck Series still serves as a benchmark for many drivers hoping to one day compete in cup races. Beyond the offseason, Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar moved from the Truck Series to the Cup Series; Ironically, they are teammates at Spire Motorsports.
Meanwhile, Hailie Deegan has risen through the ranks of the Xfinity Series as Love, driving the No. 15 for AM Racing after spending 3 full seasons in the Truck Series. And other drivers like Harrison Burton, Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson drove pickup trucks. full-time before moving up the ranks.
So why are the pilots skipping the series entirely?
Well, some of that can simply be attributed to ARCA’s partnership with NASCAR. Until 2018, ARCA was necessarily a NASCAR feeder series while maintaining its own standalone identity as a series. Then, in 2018, NASCAR bought ARCA, and while the race is still ongoing. questionable in terms of improvement, the “ARCA brakes” are being discussed less and less, and the series ended up looking a bit more like a NASCAR racing series.
If you combine that with the regression of respectful racing in the Pickup Truck series, the two series are almost one. For an up-and-coming driver, it doesn’t matter if you’re competing in either series (or both), which you have the ability to unleash on Xfinity.
Not to mention, the good fortune of drivers like Gibbs, Suarez, Stenhouse, and Logano at Xfinity makes it clear that some drivers don’t necessarily want the Truck Series in their careers. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt, but if you’re in the mood to take part in the Xfinity series and there’s a ride available, as was the case with Love, why not take the plunge?
To be clear, I think a year into the Truck series wouldn’t hurt (although as the site’s lead editor of the Truck series, I’m a bit biased). But it’s been proven time and time again that it’s imaginable to upgrade to Xfinity. the only prerequisite being a full season in ARCA or Truck, rather than ARCA and Truck.
And for ARCA drivers hoping to improve, such as Hingorani, Andres Perez de Lara, Lavar Scott, and Toni Breidinger, they would possibly be keeping a close eye on Love’s performances this year. If it holds up and does well, then the floodgates may also simply be open to a chaotic and silly 2025 season beyond simply moving up to the Truck Series.
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is editor and co-author of Fire on Fridays; He is also the lead reporter and writer for Truck Series. Anthony, a proud alumnus of West Virginia Wesleyan College in Akron, Ohio, is now a graduate student. He is a high-level actor and education wrestling choreographer in his spare time. An unwavering fan of the Cincinnati Reds and Carolina Panthers, he hopes to win a championship at some point in his life.
You can do it with Anthony via @AnthonyDamcott on Twitter.