CONCORD, N.C. — Jesse Love will return to Venturini Motorsports for a partial season in the ARCA Menards Series this year, racing in nine ARCA Menards Series events.
He’ll also compete in one ARCA Menards Series East race for a 10-race slate in total.
Love’s first outing of the season with Venturini Motorsports is scheduled for May 14 during the ARCA East event at Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway.
The Sioux Chief Showdown portion of the ARCA Menards Series schedule begins May 22 at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway, marking Love’s first national ARCA appearance of the season.
Beyond Dover and Toledo, Love will also race at Elko Speedway on July 10, Berlin Raceway on July 17, Iowa Speedway on July 24, the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Aug. 22, the Milwaukee Mile on Aug. 29, the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds on Sept. 5, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Sept. 16 and Salem (Ind.) Speedway on Oct. 2.
Love, 16, debuted with Venturini Motorsports last fall at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway. The Menlo Park, Calif., native started third and finished fourth at the high-banked half mile after running as high as second during the 200-lap event.
Love has four career ARCA Menards Series starts, with two top-five finishes and an average finish of 9.2. His first three national ARCA appearances came with Bill McAnally Racing.
Love is also the defending ARCA Menards Series West champion, taking the title last year with BMR on the strength of three wins, nine top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 11 races.
He’ll pilot the No. 25 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports this season, with veteran Kevin Reed atop the pit box as his crew chief.
While he won’t be able to run all 10 of the Sioux Chief Showdown races, most of Love’s ARCA starts this season will come within the mini-series that has become a cornerstone of the ARCA Menards Series calendar each year.
“The Showdown is something that’s a pretty unique deal,” Love noted. “I think those who really know what they’re talking about in racing, the insiders that recognize what they’re looking at, know that ARCA’s Showdown championship and running well in it means a lot more than what it might appear to be in the eyes of the general public. It’s something that gives guys like myself, who aren’t old enough yet to run the full tour, something to really race for throughout the year in the races we get to run.
“To me, it’s a really big deal and I want to win as many of those races as we can,” Love added. “I’m really honored and excited to be back with Venturini Motorsports and I know that we’ll have a really strong team underneath us with the equipment to get the job done. I know if we do that, we’ll be in good shape.”
Reflecting on his Venturini debut last season, Love noted that had a few small breaks gone his way at Winchester, he felt he had an opportunity to win in his first outing under the guidance of team owner Billy Venturini.
“To go into my first race with the team and getting a top five out of it, that was a big deal, even though I really believe we probably should have run second in that race,” Love recalled. “The team was pretty good and it was a pretty good race, but there were things that I really dropped the ball on as a driver there that I think have motivated me and given me a lot of things to work on throughout the year. We were in a position to get to second and maybe make a run at the 18 (Ty Gibbs), and my restarts killed us.
“We’ve got a lot of things to work on for this year, but I really feel like I’ve smoothed my restarts out and gotten all of that a lot tighter,” Love added. “I feel like I’ve learned so much as a driver after working with the Venturini team and applying that to both organizations last year. I’m really eager to get back with them and build on what we started. I have really high expectations for myself and Kevin Reed. We’ve always worked really well together in the limited time that we’ve had so far. We’ve been in touch since the first time I tested with Venturini Motorsports.
“All in all, this is a really cool opportunity and there’s no reason that we shouldn’t be able to put ourselves in a winning situation every weekend.”
Considering he also plans to defend his ARCA West crown with Bill McAnally Racing this year, Love hopes that certain details will translate between the McAnally and Venturini teams, creating a higher potential for success.
“It’s one of those deals where it’s more than just what’s in the car, but what’s in the team. Every team has their strengths and weaknesses, and every car is going to have its similarities or differences, some strengths and weaknesses. It’s just one of those deals where you just have to take everything as it comes and try to develop the organizations that you’re with the best that you can,” said Love. “I want to be a really big building block in Venturini’s development. I know that’s saying a lot, as a 16-year-old, but that’s something I take a lot of pride in, is developing the car and doing my best as a driver to make the teams I’m with the best that they can be.
“Every team has their strengths and weaknesses, and it’s just about taking the most out of all of the different situations and putting myself in the best circumstances possible week in and week out,” Love continued. “Hopefully, we can do that and be in position to have a lot of success this season.”