Richard Childress’s New Star Reveals He Had to Leave Toyota to Join Kyle Busch & Co.

While the 2023 NASCAR season has not been memorable for Richard Childress, the future certainly looks bright. Richard Childress Racing has had a torrid time in the Cup Series this year. None of its drivers will compete for the championship in Phoenix. But there is hope for the legendary racing team in the Xfinity Series with Austin Hill, who is 3 points ahead of the cutline with Justin Allgaier hot on his heels.

The Cup Series performance certainly came as a huge shock for Richard Childress. Newly signed Kyle Busch was tearing it up in the first half of the season, but things didn’t work out later on. However, on the Xfinity front, things have been exciting, with RCR adding a promising youngster to its star-studded lineup. As far as RCR’s latest driver goes, he is following in Kyle Busch’s footsteps. There is no doubt that this signing will raise RCR’s stock and excite fans for the 2024 season.

New RCR star stresses the importance of a family-bound team

RCR’s latest recruit will compete full-time in the Xfinity Series. The motorsport athlete is a proven winner and holds one of the most incredible records in NASCAR history. Despite being quite young, he has mastered his craft to a great degree and has won notable championships already. He is none other than the 18-year-old wonderkid, Jesse Love.

Jesse Love competed in the ARCA Menards Series with Venturini Motorsports. At just 15 years old, he shocked motorsports enthusiasts across the country by winning the ARCA Menards Series West. At 15 years, 5 months, and 13 days, he became the youngest ever champion in a NASCAR-sanctioned competition. The 18-year-old is also the ARCA Menards Series West champion for 2020 and 2021 and the ARCA Menards Series champion for 2023.

The youngster has followed in Kyle Busch‘s footsteps as far as career moves go. Ahead of the 2023 season, Rowdy walked away from Joe Gibbs Racing for RCR. JGR has Toyota as its OEM. So does Jesse Love’s ARCA Menards Series team Venturini Motorsports.

“We talked a few months ago and I thought I had my deal pretty much done with Toyota and then some other dominos fell and they called me back, talked to my agent a few weeks later which is about a few weeks ago,” Love said, talking on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

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Speaking about his move, the 2023 ARCA Menards Series champion said that Richard Childress Racing and Venturini Motorsports have something in common. Their engine manufacturers may be different, but this one common ground was one of the reasons why he decided to join the Xfinity Seris team.

“I grew up the last 3 or 4 years racing here at Venturini Motorsports. The fact that I got to learn to race here with a family-bound race team, it made so much sense for me to go to RCR where I can have a much clearer path to the Cup and have a multi-year deal to develop but also have that family element that you see at RCR because I know how to race, I know how to bind an organization…every second of the day I can go and be there and learn with those people and the biggest thing for me is to be with a family bound race team,” the 18-year-old added.

It is noteworthy that Love won half of the races on the ARCA Menards Series calendar on his way to championship glory. Such was his domination of the grid that RCR let him jump directly to NASCAR’s second tier. On the day of the announcement, a release by RCR mentioned Richard Childress’s thoughts on signing Jesse Love. 

Richard Childress sets high standards for his newest driver

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Richard Childress also said that he believes Justin Love has the determination to win and compete for championships in the team’s Xfinity Series program. He might be young, but the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion will have a lot of pressure coming into 2024.

“We’ve been watching Jesse for a while now and his breakout performance in the ARCA Menards Series was impressive this season. We know that he has the talent and determination to win races and compete for championships within RCR’s NASCAR Xfinity Series program,” Childress said as per the RCR release.

RCR has clearly pulled off a massive move with the signing of Justin Love. While he has proved his mettle in the ARCA Menards Series, the Xfinity Series is a completely different ball game. Will the 18-year-old live up to the hype? Only time will tell.

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