After the historic return of the Xfinity Series at Rockingham, Richard Childress Racing was on cloud nine after Jesse Love grabbed the checkered flag. However, this joy was short-lived as NASCAR played the role of spoiler by handing a DQ to the #2 team. Officials cited Rule 14.14.2.I-5.H in the NASCAR Rule Book, which concerns truck trailing arm spacers/pinion angle shims. “All mating surfaces between the truck trailing arm and the U-bolt saddle must be in complete contact with each other.” 

In the aftermath of this decision, Sammy Smith was handed the win, but RCR wasn’t going to go without a fight. They filed an appeal, but once again, the outcome didn’t favor them. The Appeals panel upheld the decision, much to the dismay of the entire team. They put out a bold response to this on X: “RCR is disappointed in NASCAR’s decision today to uphold the disqualification of the No. 2 team. We will focus our efforts on moving forward and being competitive at Talladega this weekend.”

Well, it wasn’t just big talk, as the team delivered on their promise. They kept their heads down, went to work and next thing you know, Jesse Love, whose win was snatched at the Rock, replied with a pole win at the Talladega Superspeedway. This was Love’s second pole win this season; the first one came at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and this was a clear indication that RCR had brought their big guns again on the superspeedway track.

Love wasn’t alone; his teammate, Austin Hill, was just 0.188 seconds shy of the pole award. But, needless to say that Richard Childress Racing will be dictating the early play at the Ag-Pro 300 race. This was the perfect response to all the drama that transpired last week. And despite his time being chased down by the rest of the field, Love was assured in his team’s abilities.

“I got a lot of faith in Danny Stockman and ECR power, CT springs, all the guys back in Welcome, always do a really good job here. So, yeah, looking forward to tomorrow. Obvoiusly, my car’s as fast as Xfinity Mobile, and I think we got a really good shot at it. So, I’ve never sat on the pole here at Talladega, so that’s really cool.” Love said to CW Sports.

Justin Allgaier and Joey Gase will start the race in the second row. Meanwhile, the likes of Jeb Burton, Taylor Gray, Josh Williams, Daniel Dye, Ryan Ellis and Jeremy Clement rounded out the top 10 spots. With only 38 spots available on the grid, Garrett Smithely, Austin Green, and Jake Garcia did not qualify for the race on speed. However, there was a big surprise for the fan, and it came in the form of Katherine Legge.

Katherine Legge makes the field on speed

Ever since the British driver started her NASCAR season at Phoenix, for some reason or the other, she has been on the receiving end of things. Last weekend, she couldn’t get through to the qualifying rounds at the Rock due to a lack of owner points. But thanks to her sponsors, she was able to swap rides with J.J. Yeley and pilot the No. 53 Chevy. Before she could make any impact, she was wrecked by William Sawalich, and in turn, she got Kasey Kahne in the pile-up.

The criticism she faced online on social media was harsh. Some even crossed the line with their derogatory comments. Legge had to call out these haters online, “I will say the hate mail, the death threats and the inappropriate sexual comments that I’ve received aren’t just disturbing, they’re unacceptable. Let me be very clear. I’m here to race and I’m here to compete, and I won’t tolerate any of these threats to my safety or to my dignity – whether that’s on track or off of it.”

Like Jesse Love and RCR, she stood on her own business and eased her way into the field, qualifying in the 27th spot for the race. Speedway races are indeed wild cards; one good result would be enough for Legge to silence her critics, more so good for her confidence with more races lined up ahead.