Jesse Love celebrates in victory lane after winning Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series race at Kansas Speedway. Photo: Ed Zurga/ARCA Racing
Jesse Love emerged victorious after a battle with Taylor Gray to win Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series race at Kansas Speedway.
The two drivers exchanged the lead for most of the afternoon before Love came away with his second straight series win, not to mention the fifth across the ARCA platform for Venturini Motorsports in 2023.
Love he admitted to being simultaneously exhilarated and exhausted following a grueling race in the Kansas heat.
“This place is tough,” Love said. “I had never raced on (an intermediate), and I did a B+ job yesterday (in pre-race practice) and wanted to do an A+ job today. It was fun, but I’m worn out. This is the most tired I’ve ever been.”
Love was determined to hold onto his car until the checkered flag to ensure Venturini Motorsports could achieve redemption from last year’s race.
A dominant run by Corey Heim in the same car Love was driving Saturday was derailed after he and Drew Dollar crashed while battling for the lead on a restart, which resulted in eventual series champion Nick Sanchez earning one of his three victories during the 2022 season.
History came close to repeating itself on numerous occasions for Venturini, as Love had to play both offense and defense while trying to fend off Gray as well as teammate Dean Thompson.
By the time the race reached its closing stages, Love’s most pressing competition came in the form of Thompson, as Gray had bounced off the wall while trying to chase the Venturini teammates down following a bad restart.
Like Love, Thompson was also fatigued after trying to chase down Love in the heat with a broken cool box. Despite being disappointed to finish second, Thompson considered his first start with Venturini a success and hopes to obtain more knowledge from the organization and Toyota while embarking on his second season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
“Venturini put together a great car,” Thompson said. “That’s why I’m here, (to learn). I dumped dirty air (on Love) and that’s something you have to learn somehow. Toyota has been absolutely phenomenal in developing me. I just have to get better.”
With Love managing to fend off one last charge from Thompson on the final lap, he now has four ARCA Menards Series victories during his career.
Love expressed confidence in the ability of himself and Venturini to keep adding to that total as the 2023 season progresses, adding the relentless dedication of everyone at the shop is the primary reason why he and so many others have found success with the organization.
“We’re beating Cup guys and Truck (Series) teams,” Love said. “These guys work so hard and are in the shop from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. some nights. That’s how we win races and I’m so proud of them.”
Gray settled for third with Connor Mosack and Jack Wood following him in the final running order. Andres Perez de Lara, Cody Coughlin, Frankie Muniz, Christian Rose and Greg Van Alst completed the top 10.
The ARCA Menards Series takes a few weeks off before heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway for Memorial Day weekend on May 26.
ARCA Menards Series
Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, KS
Dawn 150 – May 6, 2023
1. Jesse Love
2. Dean Thompson
3. Taylor Gray
4. Connor Mosack
5. Jack Wood
6. Andres Perez de Lara
7. Cody Coughlin
8. Frankie Muniz
9. Christian Rose
10. Greg Van Alst
11. Toni Breidinger
12. Mandy Chick
13. Jon Garret
14. Scott Melton
15. Tony Cosentino
16. Sean Corr
17. Matt Wilson
18. Josh Reaume
19. Alex Clubb
20. A.J. Moyer
21. Kevin Hinkle
22. Amber Balcaen
23. Jason Kitzmiller
24. Brad Smith
25. Gage Rodgers
26. Tim Monroe
27. Zachary Tinkle
28. Andy Jankowiak
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