Richard Childress Racing has announced that NASCAR Xfinity Series star Jesse Love will make his first Cup Series appearance in the No. 33 C4 Ultimate Energy Chevrolet at the Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 13.
Love comes with a track record of achieving remarkable racing milestones. He secured his first ARCA Menards Series West championship in 2020 when he was just 16 years old. Climbing the ranks, he secured his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in his rookie season last year. This year, he has already ticked off a race win at Daytona International Speedway.
Love expressed that racing in the Cup Series has always been his goal. He said:
“Racing in the Cup Series has always been my main goal and dream. Everything that I have done up to this point in my career has been building to this moment. To make my Cup Series debut at this age is very special, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to make it with RCR. Everyone has welcomed me with open arms over the last year and the organization feels like family.”
Chairman and chief executive officer of RCR, Richard Childress, added:
“I’m excited to have Jesse make his Cup Series debut in the No. 33 Chevrolet. From the moment I started watching Jesse race, I knew that he had the talent. He has the passion for wanting to win and doing the best possible for his team. To be a great driver, you have to have passion behind the wheel and Jesse has that. We’ve seen him develop over the last year since he joined RCR, and I look forward to helping him compete at the highest level of our sport.”
News of the 20-year-old driver making his Cup Series debut comes at a time when there has been much discussion about the behavior of young NASCAR drivers. Former driver Kyle Petty has called out young-generation drivers in a podcast with Kevin Harvick, urging them to have more respect for competition. Newsweek Sports reported:
“We see drivers now that grow up on video games. They grow up just crashing something and walking away from it and they don’t have to show up on Monday morning on six o’clock and put it back together.
“They got no skin in the game. You know what I mean? And they know when the race is over with, if I wreck you, I can text you or I can tweet you or I can have my wife call you. ‘Kevin I’m so sorry I got into you and I won the race. I’m sorry.’
“You think Cale Yarborough ever called up my dad and said, ‘Hey, sorry I kicked you ass bud, sorry.’ No! That’s what it was about, man. You get somebody a lap down, you keep them a lap down. The goal is to put everybody a lap down. That was the point. It was kill or be eaten. That’s the way it was, I’m sorry.
“We’ve heard all the taglines, rubbing is racing, and have at it boys and I’d wreck my mama, and all this stuff. Man, you hear that enough when you’re 12 or 13, you believe it by the time you get in a car. Whether it’s true or not, you believe that. Nobody talks, nobody starts telling these kids at 12 and 13, respect.
“Respect your equipment, respect that other driver and respect his ability. You know what I mean? Because if you race him that way, he’s going to race you that way.”
Love joins a powerful driver lineup at RCR, and his impressive racing past suggests the team may have more reasons to celebrate in the future.
The post Richard Childress Racing to Debut New Cup Series Driver at Bristol appeared first on Newsweek.
