Young talent Jesse Love announced Friday that he will make his Cup Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 13th. He will drive the #33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.
Jesse Love to Make Cup Debut at Bristol with Richard Childress Racing
Young Xfinity Series star Jesse Love announced Friday that he will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 13th. Love will drive the #33 Chevrolet sponsored by C4 Energy.
NEWS: @jesselovejr1 to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 13 piloting the No. 33 @c4energy Chevrolet.
Read the full story: https://t.co/0YIrKwnMlU pic.twitter.com/mlAkXlcrrT
— RCR (@RCRracing) March 28, 2025
“Racing in the Cup Series has always been my main goal and dream. Everything that I have done up to this point in my career has been building to this moment. To make my Cup Series debut at this age is very special, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to make it with RCR. Everyone has welcomed me with open arms over the last year, and the organization feels like family.” Jesse said in the release from RCR.
Jesse Love’s Career Highlights:
Love started racing in ARCA at 15, racing full-time in the West Series. He won three races, and his lowest finish of the season was 14th in the finale at Phoenix. He was crowned the 2020 ARCA West champion and became the youngest NASCAR Champion. In 2021, he followed that season up with another title. In 2022, he would run the series in its entirety, and in 2023, he would be the ARCA Champion.
He would move from the Toyota development pipeline to Chevrolet, finding a home with Richard Childress Racing in their Xfinity program. In 2024, he would score his first Xfinity Series win at Talladega. He would finish 8th in the points for 2024.
Jesse Love is currently sitting third in the points for the Xfinity Series in 2025, with a win at Daytona to begin the season. He is teammates with Austin Hill, who will also be in the #33 Chevrolet in 2025.
Love’s Cup debut comes as his fellow Xfinity Series competitor and friend Connor Zilisch made his debut at Circuit Of The Americas.
READ MORE: Connor Zilisch to make Cup Series Debut at COTA, Red Bull Returns as a Sponsor
Expectations for Jesse Love:
In 2025, we have seen three Cup Series debuts, and all have ended with wrecked race cars. Helio Castroneves at Daytona crashed out of the race. Connor Zilisch wrecked at Circuit Of the Americas. Katherine Legge was involved in a crash at Phoenix. Regardless of the cause, it has not been a good year for debuts. Can Jesse Love turn the trend around? I don’t know.
Bristol is a tough track. Being a short track, there is nowhere to hide and just ride. If Jesse makes a mistake or someone else, he could be added to the wrecked-out-on-debut trend. The goal for most debuts is just to complete all the laps and make it to the finish line. But Bristol is tough.
Jesse Love is a great talent and will be winning Cup races one day. Everyone has to start somewhere, and more power to him that it is at a tough racetrack. I wish Jesse all the luck in his debut, but I don’t think Bristol is the place to make a debut.
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Featured Image Credit: Meg Oliphant, Getty Images. 2/15/2025
