Jesse Love and the Venturini Motorsports No. 20 might be one of the hottest teams in all of racing, right now, having won back-to-back races in the ARCA Menards Series at Talladega and Kansas.
Now, they’ve completed the trifecta, taking home the checkered flag in Friday’s General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“I’ve never won here. Even on the fifth-mile when I was racing Legend cars,” Love said in his post-race interview.
It wasn’t without some adversity though. A late-race caution, for a spin of the No. 11 of Stephanie Moyer, set up an overtime restart. While Love and the other leaders came down the pit road, Christian Rose stayed out.
On the restart, Love made quick work of the No. 32 AM Racing Ford Mustang, while also holding off a hard-charging Dean Thompson, who finished runner-up to Love for the second race in a row.
“I always stay calm…I never really get worked up,” the 18-year-old added.
While it was a new track to win at for the Menlo Park, California native, the top three felt like a replay from a few weeks ago at Kansas.
Dean Thompson felt like the second fiddle to the No. 20 car and came home second once again. Following suit behind was the No. 17 of Taylor Gray, who made a strong comeback after having to start at the rear of the field.
Joining Gray at the back was fourth-place finisher Grant Enfinger, driving for CR7 Motorsports. Rounding out the top five was Andy Jankowiak, who had a strong rebound after a fire kept the team out of the last race out at Kansas.
The race itself shared a good amount of beef with a few drivers having problems with the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing and Connor Mosack.
Coming to the race break caution at lap 50, contact into turn three between Mosack and the No. 35 of Greg Van Alst sent Van Alst into the wall hard and putting an end to his day early. The Daytona winner was clearly upset with Mosack in his care center interview.
A tough break for Daytona winner Greg Van Alst at Charlotte. pic.twitter.com/RtY5bTVaA6
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 26, 2023
“No respect. Just drive right through you,” the Anderson, Indiana native said.
"They got million-dollar budgets and they'll just drive through you." @GregVanAlst35 on the wreck with @connormosack
"No respect. Just drive through you."#ARCA #TeamToby
— old ben (gone and forgotten) (@BrBranscum43) May 26, 2023
Post-race, both drivers caught up and talked about the situation on track.
After today’s run-in on track @GregVanAlst35 and @connormosack talked it out, and both drivers ended the conversation by shaking hands. @ARCA_Racing pic.twitter.com/1bANy2EMCm
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) May 27, 2023
Van Alst wasn’t the only one upset as paint was swapped between the 18 and Gus Dean in the no. 25. The two door slammed several times showing their frustration. However, both drivers were able to keep it straight.
Mosack is having a night. Slides up into Gus Dean there. That could have been big. #ARCA
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) May 26, 2023
Mosack is INTO the side of Dean AGAIN! Oh my #ARCA
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) May 26, 2023
Results from the General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
| Ps | Car | Driver | Team | Laps | Diff | Status | B. Time | B. Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 | Jesse Love | 103 | --- | Running | 30.542 | 103 | |
| 2 | 15 | Dean Thompson | 103 | 0.223 | Running | 30.393 | 103 | |
| 3 | 17 | Taylor Gray | 103 | 1.123 | Running | 30.918 | 9 | |
| 4 | 97 | Grant Enfinger | 103 | 1.440 | Running | 31.229 | 103 | |
| 5 | 73 | Andy Jankowiak | 103 | 1.690 | Running | 31.108 | 6 | |
| 6 | 30 | Frankie Muniz | 103 | 2.320 | Running | 31.589 | 64 | |
| 7 | 2 | Andres Perez de Lara | 103 | 2.331 | Running | 31.157 | 63 | |
| 8 | 32 | Christian Rose | 103 | 2.491 | Running | 31.666 | 63 | |
| 9 | 18 | Connor Mosack | 103 | 2.591 | Running | 30.865 | 6 | |
| 10 | 6 | Jack Wood | 103 | 2.693 | Running | 30.99 | 16 | |
| 11 | 45 | Tony Cosentino | 103 | 4.684 | Running | 31.511 | 62 | |
| 12 | 55 | Toni Breidinger | 102 | 1 lap | Running | 31.744 | 7 | |
| 13 | 93 | Caleb Costner | 102 | 1 lap | Running | 32.32 | 16 | |
| 14 | 66 | Jon Garrett | 102 | 1 lap | Running | 32.523 | 63 | |
| 15 | 25 | Gus Dean | 101 | 2 laps | Running | 31.315 | 15 | |
| 16 | 10 | Ed Pompa | 100 | 3 laps | Running | 34.372 | 18 | |
| 17 | 11 | Stephanie Moyer | 99 | 4 laps | Running | 32.970 | 37 | |
| 18 | 75 | Bryan Dauzat | 97 | 6 laps | Running | 34.698 | 97 | |
| 19 | 12 | Brayton Laster | 96 | 7 laps | Running | 35.184 | 61 | |
| 20 | 48 | Brad Smith | 61 | 42 laps | Retired | 36.866 | 7 | |
| 21 | 03 | Alex Clubb | 54 | 49 laps | Running | 36.136 | 54 | |
| 22 | 35 | Greg Van Alst | 47 | 56 laps | Accident | 31.568 | 6 | |
| 23 | 69 | Scott Melton | 39 | 64 laps | Accident | 32.277 | 7 | |
| 24 | 8 | Sean Corr | 30 | 73 laps | Retired | 32.547 | 28 | |
| 25 | 31 | Stephen Leicht | 25 | 78 laps | Retired | 35.978 | 15 | |
| 26 | 01 | C.J. McLaughlin | 17 | 86 laps | Retired | 33.849 | 7 | |
| 27 | 06 | A.J. Moyer | 12 | 91 laps | Retired | 44.770 | 5 | |
| 28 | 72 | Cody Coughlin | -- | -- | Did Not Start | -- | -- |
Breaking down the points standings, Love now strengthens his lead. He sits 13 points ahead of Frankie Muniz, who finished sixth. Jack Wood sits third with teammate Andres Perez de Lara fourth and Christian Rose fifth.
POINTS – #ARCA Menards Series After 5/20 Races:
1. Jesse Love 243pts
2. Frankie Muniz (-13)
3. Jack Wood (-29)
4. Andres Perez De Lara (-34)
5. Christian Rose (-40)
6. Tony Cosentino (-40)
7. Greg Van Alst (-44)
8. Toni Breidinger (-53)
9. Jon Garrett (-72)
10. AJ Moyer (-90)— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) May 27, 2023
Looking ahead, the ARCA Menards Series heads to the short track of Berlin Raceway on June 17th. You can watch the race live on FS1 at 8 P.M. EST.
