TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Nineteen-year-old rookie Jesse Love won the first NASCAR Xfinity Series of his career in a crash-marred, double-overtime finish at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday. Love held off Brennan Poole, who pulled alongside roaring into the trioval, and took the checkered flag 0.141 seconds ahead of Riley Herbst. Anthony Alfredo and Leland Honeyman claimed the next two spots, Poole faded to fifth, and one last crash sent Joey Gase spinning behind the frontrunners. “Let’s go playoff racing!” Love screamed over the radio. Hailie Deegan went into the final restart with a shot at becoming the highest-finishing woman in Xfinity Series history, but she slipped all the way to 12th. Danica Patrick retains the distinction with a fourth-place showing at Las Vegas in 2011. Pole-sitter Austin Hill — Love’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing — won the first stage, led a race-high 41 laps and was at the front of an 18-car train with two laps to go when the usual Talladega chaos erupted. |
Defending champion Lilia Vu withdraws from Chevron Championship with back injury before 1st roundSeattle Storm become 2nd WNBA team to open their own practice facilityPhiladelphia Eagles want draft picks to play well, do the right thing and retire with the franchiseCarlos Carrasco pitches solid into the 6th inning, Guardians edge Red Sox 5Packers could still look to upgrade secondary in NFL draft even after adding Xavier McKinneyGiants may consider QB in NFL draft as Daniel Jones recovers from ACL injuryDefending champion Lilia Vu withdraws from Chevron Championship with back injury before 1st roundArchie Cooley, the college football coach whose innovative offense launched Jerry Rice, has diedOfficer fatally shoots man who confronted him with knife, authorities sayMontreal scores twice in final minutes and rallies to beat Minnesota 4