When Jesse Love has a question or needs to bounce something off a veteran NASCAR Cup driver, he usually goes to two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch.
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The 20-year-old Love makes his Cup debut this Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway. He’ll be teamed with Busch, with Love driving the #2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Austin Dillon in the #3, and Busch in the #8.
While Love understands it’ll be every man for himself once the green flag drops – and that includes his RCR teammate Busch – Love comes into Sunday’s race having picked Busch’s brain extensively, acting like a sponge to take in all the knowledge that Busch imparts upon him.
Busch usually isn’t all that impressed with young drivers, but Love is a different case in that he had no problem reaching out to Busch for help.
“That he picked up the phone and asked and called,” Busch said. A lot of drivers don’t do that anymore these days. But if you call, I’m willing to talk to you and help you and give you as much as you ask and try to give you what you can to get you started and be ready to go when you get here.”
Love has already impressed even before the race is run on Sunday. He is stoic, professional, and did well in qualifying, starting 19th in the field of nearly 40 drivers entered.
“I guess it’s just the way you’re raised,” Busch said of Love. “I’ve seen a lot of young drivers come in, and they’re just wet behind the ears, maybe a little quiet and a little more reserved. But they all figure it out eventually, and they feel they have their own star power.”
Love isn’t starstruck around 2-time Cup champ Kyle Busch
Love, meanwhile, isn’t awestruck or gets nervous around Busch. First, they’re RCR teammates, but Busch also appears to see a lot of himself when he was Love’s age.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Love said of his respect for Busch, and Busch allowing him the ability to pick Busch’s brain. “It’d be dumb of me to not go ask some questions and pick his brain when I can.
“And he’s been helpful, for sure. I always feel like Kyle (Busch) has been an open book. Kyle’s probably the toughest competitor in the garage, and I do notice a little bit of a difference when I’m asking him questions when I’m not racing against him versus when I am racing against him, right?
“It’s really cool to pick a guy’s brain like that.” With the 2025 running of the Bristol spring race kicking off at 3:00 pm ET this Sunday, it now remains to be seen how well Love can convert his learnings into results as he steps into the big league for the first time.
