NASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP MEDIA DAY

November 5, 2026

Jesse Love

Press Conference

An Interview with:

JESSE LOVE: Morning, everybody.

Q. How are you?

JESSE LOVE: Good.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: I don't know. I'm trying to be curious about it and learn as I go and learn as I go and not really have too many preconceived notions about anything. Cool environment; great environment; love being here.

But, no, I don't have too many preconceived notions. Couple hard truths about the weekend, but trying to be curious.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, absolutely. I think going into it and being curious and -- you know, you do a lot of prep throughout the week and you kind of set yourself a little bit of a blueprint of how things might go and obviously the skills to adapt, but part of having the skills in your corner is so you can adapt and not be locked in on one thing.

So I feel prepared in that way.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, of course. Learning about myself, my soul, my mind under pressure is an important piece of it. Obviously I was impressed by that on my on accord, developing that and continuing to get better in that sense.

I feel that this year no different. It's different, but I feel like the goal is still the same. The avenue because of the points situation is going to be the same as well.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, a lot of people ask me that. It's not the forefront of my mind. I want to -- I have a goal to be a two-time champion and back-to-back for myself in my own goals and aspirations.

And because of that, I don't have the history behind it at the forefront of my mind. After that's done it will be, but for the time being I want this for myself and for the work that I've put in.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: I do, yes, and I feel a lot of clarity with that mindset. I know what the goal is and I feel prepared to do that. That's a thing, sometimes it can be challenging when you know you feel like you can play a little bit of defense and that's a dangerous place to be.

That's also where we do our best work, is in situations like this, so everything happens for a reason and I feel we're set up in the best spot possible.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: I know that I do. I know that I'm different than others in a lot of ways and I know that's -- I thrive under these situations and I thrive under this pressure. This is where I find my best performance, so...

For whatever that is, but the pressure seems to sharpen my mind and my awareness and intensity, and I put a lot of work into the mind on these fronts. I feel that it's mostly mental, so that's where my power lies I feel like most of the time, and especially in moments like this it's where I get to show that.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: I don't know if I believe in that aspect of it, that you can just be born a certain way. I feel that all of our experiences mold us into the person that we become. And then with intention you can become better at something and you can also become worse.

The family that raised me, the people that I was around my whole life developed me into a person of my current being, and I feel that I've also had a lot of intention and focus on obviously making my mind my most powerful asset.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, I would say so. I definitely feel those emotions and I love all the people at RCR and I'm going to miss them a lot. Sometimes in sport there is no room for emotion. Emotion can kind of do more of a negative than positive.

So there is times where I allow the emotion to set in and times where I don't. For right now, I feel that I want to serve those people well and leave on the right foot, and obviously winning a championship is the best way I can do that.

That brings me clarity and focus. As far as the sadness emotion, I feel that I shut that out for now.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: I'm sure it does, but I don't really judge my emotions or thoughts on that front. So I don't really know why I feel certain ways about the championship this year versus last year, but all those things will play a factor subconsciously.

At the end of the day, I feel that I'm the most prepared, I have the most skill, and I'm ready to put that on display. We can't always control every aspect of what goes on on the racetrack, but I'm confident in the things I can control and my team can control and the cars that we bring to the racetrack.

I feel that I'm driving the best car and we have the best driver and the best group of people on the car side, at the shop, on the road, on the pit crew side of things, my spotter. So I feel we kind of rely on that strength and that group of people.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, I'm going to miss the hell out of all the people most importantly. I will of course miss the O'Reilly car. I'll miss obviously the way that i drives and the flow of the season and the people I do it with, but I don't think there is necessarily one part I won't miss. I'm going miss every part of it.

Again, right now it's hard to think that the sadness part of it is going to serve me any good, so I try to shut that out for now and also know that the best way I can appreciate those people and serve those people that I owe a lot to that have done so much for my career is to go win them a second championship.

So that brings me a lot of focus.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Well, I feel that confidence in that sense is a complete illusion. I can tell you a thousand different answers, and at the end of the day it doesn't matter to me. I feel that I know where my current mindset is, and that's that I feel that our intermediate program is the best in the field this year, and as a driver that I have the most skill to execute what has to be executed this weekend to become a champion.

Maybe that bears the fruit and maybe it doesn't. I've been shown this year that you're not always going to reap the benefit that you deserve or that's fair. What you can control is the way that you show up to the racetrack, and I know that the way I'm showing up to the racetrack and my whole team as well, that we're the favorite in our eyes and we have more confidence than we probably know what to do with.

That's a good thing and a bad thing. So being humble and knowing that we have stiff competition and amazing drivers and teams we're going and racing for, that brings the fear into your eyes that you can lose, and that I think sharpens my focus to go out there and be perfect and be the best version of myself.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: I guess. After eight shots of espresso this morning maybe not. Yeah, I hope that answers the question. I feel that, again, me and Danny both, we talked about it a little bit on Saturday or Sunday morning about Martinsville, about some questions he had.

But once that phone call was done, you would've forgot it even happened.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: There was no deep dive, yeah.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Correct, and I wanted to give them their information because they're racing next year, even if I'm not in the car. So I want to be fair to them and give them the information that's going to help them. We had an amazing car, so there wasn't a whole a lot to really look at on that front because they hit the nail on the head with the setup and the balance and all the things that we could control.

But at the end of the day, you're right, like deep diving Martinsville won't help me at Homestead, so as far 6as my post-race prep goes that was pretty nonexistent and I was just focused on Homestead.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Uh-huh.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, if you look at -- if you look at racetracks that are high tire wear, right, unless you have 12 sets of tires, which we don't, there is not going to be much strategy. If you want to short the stage by two laps you're going to completely dismantle your next run of the race because you're not going to have - those two laps on tires mean a ton.

So, yeah, I think that it's more straight up than what it could be. Like if we were going to Bristol it wouldn't be very straight up in that sense. You could short the race by 40 damn laps if you wanted to; here you're not going to do that.

Knowing that, that it takes a little bit of an equation off the table.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, I've raced here twice and I feel that in sports in general, especially in anything that's I guess kind of like combat sport, not necessarily that this is combat, but we have lot of like high intensity situations and it's not golf, okay?

So because of that, the more energy you can pump into a place where the fans feed off that, and even the TV, when you watch your race at a certain event that doesn't have that energy or aura, whatever you want to call it, you can feel it through the TV.

So this place solves that and fixes that. I think this is the place where -- or the environment that a championship should be crowned. And not that Phoenix is any different, but it's just something about under the lights and you're near Miami and you're at a place with so much history of crowning a champion, that does a lot of good and doesn't really do any harm.

I am a believer in rotating and going to different venues, but I feel like Homestead should always be the home for it.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Well, I was a big -- I'm a big fan of seeing people do great things, right? A lot of great things happened at Homestead. Whether it was Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon or probably most importantly Jimmie Johnson, seeing what he has done here, that's a great thing to study for me as a kid. So I can't say how many times I've gone to sleep watching Phoenix, or sorry, Homestead races crowning a champion. That has done a lot for me in my mindset in my career.

So I was never here for a championship race until now, but I got to watch a lot of them on the TV. Especially re-watching them the last couple years of my life has been very cool.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Absolutely. And it's not fair to say my Chase run. It's our Chase run as a whole. We have 400 men and women at RCR that work on our cars, whether they are in the fab shop or the engine shop CT Springs, upstairs with a suit and tie or downstairs in overalls, it takes a village to do what we do. We go up against multi titans every week whether that's JGR, HMS, JRM, Haas, they're all amazing teams. For us to feel that we can put the best car on the racetrack on any given weekend is something we live for.

It might sound a little bit materialistic at times and barbaric to tie our happiness and our self-worth to a result in a car, a product we put on the racetrack, but it means something to us because we live and thrive off that.

So I'm very proud of them. I'm proud of myself, but more proud of the group at RCR that has been through so much. We haven't been held down easily. It's been a very motivating thing to watch. Being able to live it firsthand this year, seeing the good things that have happened and just as importantly the terrible things that have happened, to see us get through it the way we have is a motivating thing that takes a very special group of people and leadership to be able to overcome.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Honestly, I don't know if there is anything I won't take away from my time at RCR. I've learned so many different things, whether they're simple things about racing and different tracks or whether they're very much deeper things like what I just talked about with our will to get through what has happened this year.

They're the reason I am who I am now, and my soul and thoughts and the person that I am, right, has changed over the last three years for much better. I'm a much better person now than I was when I first got there.

So there is probably not going to be anything that I will not miss. I'm going to miss it all. I'm grateful for it all and I'm going to, for the rest of my life, bleed RCR blood and feel that the racetrack -- or the race team and the company and the people have changed me.

Q. (Inaudible.) Here we are final weekend the season. What's it like over the course of your rein as champion?

JESSE LOVE: It's been hard to enjoy for sure, because probably after I got home from the awards banquet after I won the championship last year, I was already focused on winning a second one.

I'm grateful for that and I'm also ungrateful for that, because there wasn't much enjoyment of it, but there was a lot of fulfillment, so I am grateful for that in that aspect.

Every week that I show up and showing up to the racetrack this year I kind of had the mindset that I'm Jesse Love, hopping in the 2 car, in this car, this team won a championship last year with a driver that's worse than I am now.

So I have to work to go back-to-back and continue to develop myself, and anything short of that would be a failure. So there has been a lot of motivation, a lot of work that's gone into this year, because I've known what I've wanted the last year and a half.

Q. You came in last year to Phoenix kind of like underdog. Your buddy, Connor Zilisch, had a hell of a year. But when the time counted, you were there. You were able to capitalize and seize the prize. What does it mean about your perseverance or say about your perseverance and the team and what you all had built over two years?

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, sports is a weird thing where you can see things like that. There is a reason people bet on sports.

At the end of the day, I just feel like in moments where there is just so much pressure involved into a situation and there is just so many different layers to it, that you can start to see the dismantling of one person and the rise of another.

That's why I love it, because you want something so bad and then once you have it all you're focused on is not letting it go, that's been my source of motivation this year. I want to keep my title for as long as I have it and as long as I can, and I take pride in being a championship driver. I always have and I believe that I always will.

So last year was a great experience for me.

Q. How have you grown since coming to RCR? A situation like what you were in last week at Martinsville would've completely --

JESSE LOVE: Dismantled me.

Q. That's the word I was going to use. Completely dismantled someone. You never gave up and stayed in the hunt despite the fact that everything was unraveling around you.

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, not me. That's what I would tell myself. Again, we can't always control the environment that we're in or the situations and the things that happen to us and impact us, but we can always control how we respond to those situations.

I have two jobs in racing, right, I run my next best corner at 100 percent, whatever that looks like, and I make my next best decision, whatever that looks like. Dismantling and losing my temper and getting caught up in the moment does not serve me in those goals and those aspirations.

So I have become a very strong-minded individual that is not impacted by these things that would dismantle others, and I'm very proud of that. It's taken a lot of hard work and intention to get to that point. So you're right, 100 percent right, two or three years ago I would've freaked the hell out, but not now.

Q. So you enter Homestead with the best average finish of any of the (indiscernible) with a 7.5. How much confidence does the success you enjoyed in the past give you?

JESSE LOVE: There is definitely confidence in the package that we have and the car that we bring. Racing is always a week-to-week thing, and that's part of the reason why I've been able to have the success that I have, is because I realize that what I did last week and what I did six months ago in Charlotte or something has no impact on what happens this weekend.

That level of awareness and I guess the ability to reset every week and put your best foot forward has impacted us in a positive way, but there is definitely going to be the subconscious, you know, confidence that comes along with a stat line like that.

Also, I know what I need to perform, and that's to continue to reset every week, just put my best foot forward.

Q. You're going from a blue collar championship team to the land of stark white shirts and crisp black pants. I would assume that having that kind of structure surrounding you will actually be good for the challenge that lies ahead.

JESSE LOVE: Maybe. There is a lot of power in the word maybe. I know that I can be kind of a chameleon at times and fit in. Everybody would've told me three years ago that I do not fit into the RCR mold. I'm from California, had long hair, and talk the way I talk and do the things the way I do, and I fit into that place like a glove.

I feel like I connected with the people there and the team there on a really deep level, and I will work to do the same at my next job with the Wood Brothers and Team Penske and all the people involved there, even though my collar will be a little bit tighter and shirts a little bit brighter.

But at the end of the day I just feel that I'm a people person and I love to develop relationships and be the best leader that I can be, so it doesn't matter what environment I go into, I'll try my best to maximize it.

I do look forward to being around new people with new perspectives, even though I'll definitely miss the ones that I have now.

Q. And finally, your relationship with Danny Stockman over the last two years, how has that...

JESSE LOVE: Me and Danny are really similar in a lot of ways and different in a lot of ways as well, and that's in turn complemented us and pushed us to get the most out of each other. We both worked very hard for each other in that sense, so I'm going to miss him a lot. Still going to be his friend and be around him. Still going to come to his hauler for the race and during race weekends.

I'm not worried about our connection, friendship, I guess. But the connection will definitely fade because me and Danny are two people that even if we love each other like we do now, part of the reason why we love each other is because we never questioned once that as his driver I put my best foot forward for him and as my crew chief he always put his best foot forward for me.

In turn, that develops a strong level of trust and a bond. So I know that for us to hold up our end of the bargain we're going to have to do that next year, him for Chandler and me for my team.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: The car most importantly probably. It's an amazing car with an amazing package, with amazing people in the garage and amazing schedule. I mean, again people keep asking me what I'm going to misses about X, Y, Z. I don't know if I can pick up a lot of the things I'm not going to miss.

And obviously the people and the journey I've got to go on. I had a lot of fun and I had a lot of bad times as well. I think back to moments like Watkins Glen, one of the lowest points in my career and following up a couple months later with some of the highest moments.

Yeah, I'm going miss every part of it. Who knows, maybe a couple years NASCAR will make the O'Reilly car the Cup car and there will be peace for everybody.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Yeah, they did an amazing job and it's been very cool to see how fast the 21 car has been. And it makes sense. You know, when I was kind of wrapping my head around what this situation looked like, it should run how they been running. Josh has a great crew chief, which will be mine for next year and amazing people around him to succeed.

So to see the speed that Josh has had has been very cool, and to see him land on his feet is also very awesome. It's amazing for the sport to have a short track guy in the field that did it the very hard way and the honest way and whatever else you want to call it.

Yeah, it's been very cool. To see it also for the Wood Family has been very awesome, and that has given me some internal motivation. To see the level of happiness that they receive from having a good day and to contend for wins is something I want to continue to provide for them.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Well, I think Justin is a competitor, just like I am, and we both -- I don't know if he feels the same way I feel about him in that sense of -- in a sense of I feel like Justin has motivated me a lot over the last couple years. He's been my enemy in a lot of different ways, and in turn that's made me appreciate him even more.

The more personal sometimes you can make something or the more of an enemy you can create, sometimes it can do a lot of good for an athlete. So I've had amazing pleasure of racing against somebody I consider to be great what the he does. I think we both want to -- when it's all said and done, whether I win it, he wins it, whatever the future looks like, I think we both want to look at it and say if you were in my shoes I beat Justin at his best and he had everything go right and we still prevailed and we still won, still beat him.

That's what we want. That's the competition that we look for and the feeling that we want to receive.

Q. Coming from the dark side, California, how have you seen Corey Day mature over the course of his first year? You know his background. Are you surprised his first season he came out and ask scored four wins?

JESSE LOVE: I am surprised definitely. I feel like he's done a great job, and I was probably one of the people that was like, what the hell are you doing in the beginning of the year. But when you really stood back and think about it, it makes sense.

He does have a lot of experience and he's not a risk-adverse individual by any means, so you can see it with the way he drives the sprint car.

Yeah, honestly right now I don't really care because of how focused I am on winning a championship. At the same time, I feel if I was him I would be very proud of the job I've done and the way that I've improved.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: No, it's not, because we're a lot younger in this series, and even if you're a 19 year old like Connor Zilisch in the Cup Series, the only way you can kind of get there is through having an amazing season and showing your worth.

I don't think age plays much of an impact into the NASCAR like it played into Kimi's hand. But at the same time, experience is a powerful thing. But mindset even more so.

I'm not surprised to see what Kimi has done. Two of my friends, Brent Crews and Connor Zilisch raced against Kimi growing up, and I've heard stories before like Kimi was even anybody about how good he was.

So I watched zero Formula 1 races this year, but did see I think two days ago that he won the championship, and I was, as a NASCAR fan, pretty mind blown by that because I knew how young he was.

Was he a rookie?

Q. No, second year.

JESSE LOVE: Second year, okay.

Q. (Inaudible?

JESSE LOVE: There is a couple small niche scenarios where I would want to know that information. For the most part, no, because I believe that the best way to control our own destiny is to go win the race, and to do that I need to be in the present moment and focused on my next best corner and what the current the task at hand is.

Everybody will be different in that answer for sure, but for me, I could care less. I want to go and have an amazing performance and the hope that will bear fruit for a championship.

Q. (Inaudible.)

JESSE LOVE: Well, I think that the -- when Kyle passed, right, you start to think a little bit more deeply on what he stood for and the man he was and what his values were. When you do that, you kind of unlock a new awareness about somebody that you wouldn't have probably thought of at the current point.

So I learned a lot during that about who he is and the lessons he taught me and what his values were, and I've been able to instill some of that in myself.

At the end of the day, you know, the importance that he had on me didn't change necessarily because he passed, but I definitely thought long and hard about my interactions with him, the things he helped me out with, because I knew that I wouldn't have that anymore.

So, yeah, it's been an -- and obviously living it with RCR has been probably one of the most challenging parts, but also the most motivating part.

So I think even though it's not the forefront of my mind of what motivates me, subconsciously losing Kyle and wanting to support RCR and even win for a hero and a family has definitely motivated me probably a lot more than I even realize.