The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ return to Rockingham was a sight to behold. Packed grandstands, raucous crowds and flowing concessions were a callback to a NASCAR that many remember fondly. Jesse Love hopped out of his Chevy, visibly taken aback by the energy of the crowd after his second win of 2025. 

But it just wasn’t meant to be. 

Love failed post race tech due to a rear suspension violation after a grueling day of racing, making Sammy Smith a winner in 2025 just two weeks after his Martinsville meltdown. 

Unfortunately, mistakes bred cautions all day as the Xfinity Series once again showed its far from the series it used to be. 

The weekend started off with the #88 of Connor Zilisch once again flexing his muscles in qualifying, getting the pole for Saturday’s race. The season of bad luck for the rookie continued not long after however, as he was forced to change a tire and start in the rear. The #4 of Parker Retzlaff would assume the pole, his first of 2025. 

Behind him in row two was 18-time Cup series winner Kasey Kahne, making his first NASCAR start since 2018. The veteran piloted the #33 HendrickCars Chevy for Richard Childress Racing. 

Rockingham has never been an easy track to wrangle. The 0.94 mile oval is big enough to allow drivers to use the throttle generously around the track, creating a car that becomes a handful quickly. William Sawalich and Love showed how fast their cars were around the track as the first stage progressed.

It wouldn’t take long for trouble to find the field however, as Katherine Legge slowed in the middle lane as Sawalich approached fast to lap her, causing an accident that ruined Kahne’s return to NASCAR. 

The yellow allowed Nick Sanchez to stay out and capture his first ever stage win, and Big Machine Racings first since last season. 

Carson Kvapil pounced on the start of stage two and went on to lead over 30 laps, the most of the rookie’s short Xfinity career thus far. Love’s patience allowed him to get in lap traffic and battle for the lead shortly after, a trend that would continue for the #2 team all day. 

A caution on Lap 109 gave teams the opportunity to capitalize on stage points yet again. This time it was Dean Thompson who would be the benefactor, winning stage two, his first ever stage win. It’s the first time since 2019 that the first two stages saw first time winners. 

Love and Kvapil continued their duel as the final stage carried on. The two Chevrolets traded the lead amid restart after restart, as the field began to unravel with the laps counting down. 

By lap 160, teams began to pit once again while cars mid pack stayed out to try and capitalize on the very likely caution. Love got blocked in pit exit and rolled off pit road in third, losing the lead. 

Regardless, Love charged through lapped traffic and quickly got to Ryan Seig’s bumper to battle for the lead. This continued until yet another caution flew on lap 227 for a blown tire on Blaine Perkins. 

Sieg started to sputter on the front stretch, falling back to 7th, leaving the front row to Jesse Love and the #8 of Sammy Smith, who also was in this week’s Dash4Cash. 

On the ensuing restart, Christian Eckes got loose and caused a massive pile up, collecting contenders like Allgaier, Kvapil and Brandon Jones. The wreck would bring out the red flag for the first time all day. 

Once the cars got started again, it would be like deja vu as Sam Mayer now ran out of fuel, collecting cars and once again bringing out a red flag. It was the cherry on top of a destructive day. 

On the final restart of the day, Smith seemingly snatched the lead from Love and looked to rectify his Martsinville mishap from two weeks ago, but Love didn’t back down. Love bumped Smith and lightly sent him up the track, assuming the lead in a classic fashion and taking it home for his second win of 2025… until his suspension had other plans. 

Love failed post race tech due to his aforementioned suspension issues, giving the #8 of Smith his first ever win. The win for Smith comes at a controversial time, where the memory of his sabotage against Taylor Gray at Martinsville is fresh in NASCAR fans minds. 

Smith also secured the Dash4Cash trophy, which he not so enthusiastically commented on, going towards his fine from his Martinsville antics.