Jesse Love takes blame for the incident as they battled for the win at Bristol Motor Speedway
On Friday night, the NASCAR O’Reilly Series raced at Bristol Motor Speedway. The race was a thriller in the closing laps of the 300-lap event.
On a restart with just 15 to go, Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love set the front row. Allgaier got the initial jump and he was clear into turn one. Into turn three, Love moved to the top and he built momentum.
Off turn four, Love crossed under Allagier and he had the inside into turn one. They ran even but Love drove it way off into the corner. He missed the corner completely and ran up the banking.
Allgaier was shoved into the outside wall.
Moments later, Taylor Gray pulled the same move on Love. As they made contact, none of them won the race.
After the finish, Justin Allgaier climbed from his car and walked right to the window of Love’s No. 2 machine to have a chat…
Bristol Race Results: NASCAR O’Reilly (September 18, 2026)
Justin Allgaier comments
“Just questioning why,” Justin Allgaier told CW Sports of his conversation with Love.
“Really disappointed. I felt like we raced clean all night and he wasn’t even trying to make the corner.”
“The racecar that we had tonight was so good. Just really disappointed. I don’t know how many races I’ve been leading here with 20 to go and haven’t won.”
Jesse Love comments
“I would have done a lot of things different,” Jesse Love opened.
“Honestly, I got caught up in the moment, racing him. I knew on the last restart I had to get a good launch when I got the front row. I was able to accomplish that.”
“Then, coming off of four, side-by-side and I needed to run my best corner. And instead I got caught up in the moment, racing him.”
“In turn, that led me down a path to making an enemy that I did not need to make. And make a terrible decision that took us out of contention to win.”
“I’m just really frustrated with myself. And, I owe an apology to the No. 7 car and an apology to my team.”
“I’m 21-year-old and I’ve been racing since I was 5-year-old. I know better than to do that. Just made a bad decision.”
Justin Allgaier vs Jesse Love at Bristol
Justin Allgaier confronts Jesse Love (Video)
Links
Justin Allgaier | Jesse Love | Bristol Motor Speedway | NASCAR
