Richard Childress Racing’s Jesse Love Gunning for the Golden Driller at the Chili Bowl

Fresh off the biggest accomplishment of his young career, Jesse Love isn’t heading to a beach to celebrate his 2025 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship. Instead, he’s headed for the dust, the fumes, and the deafening roar inside the SageNet Center.

Love is going back to Tulsa, and he has some serious unfinished business to attend to. The California native has officially filed his entry for the 2026 Chili Bowl Nationals, looking to cap off a dream season by conquering one of the most notoriously difficult events in motorsports.

While he might be walking into the expo center with a NASCAR championship ring, the dirt tracks of Oklahoma don’t care about what you did on the pavement. In Tulsa, you earn every inch.

A High-Powered Partnership for Tulsa

Love isn’t just showing up. He’s bringing heavy artillery. He will be strapping into a midget owned by Blake Harris, a name that carries weight in the garage as Alex Bowman’s crew chief at Hendrick Motorsports.

The entry is being fielded under the banner of 2nd Opinion Auto Center Racing, a Texas-based operation run by Dan and Patricia Harris. This crossover between the NASCAR garage and the dirt track pits is what makes the Chili Bowl so special. You have top-tier asphalt engineering minds collaborating with dirt specialists.

Love will be part of a formidable five-car stable that includes Tanner Berryhill, Jeb Sessums, Matt Sherell, and Luke Storer. For longtime fans, Berryhill is a familiar face, having logged over 40 starts in NASCAR’s national series between 2012 and 2021.

The Heartbreak of Past Attempts

To understand why this entry matters, you have to look at Love’s history in this building. Despite winning the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series, the Chili Bowl has been a source of frustration for the young talent.

In three previous attempts, Love has yet to lock himself into the prestigious Saturday night A-Main. The memories of 2024 likely still sting. On his qualifying night that year, Love looked like the man to beat. He was leading his race, hitting his marks, and looking untouchable until disaster struck.

A flip while leading didn’t just end his race. It crushed his momentum for the week. That’s the cruelty of this event. You can be the fastest driver in the building, but one rut, one mistimed slide job, or one mechanical gremlin can leave you watching the main event from the grandstands.

Returning as a NASCAR champion changes the narrative, but it adds pressure. Love has proven he can close out a long season against a rival like Connor Zilisch, but can he survive the chaos of the alphabet soup mains in Tulsa?

A Star-Studded Field Awaits

Love won’t be the only driver trading stock cars for midgets this January. The entry list is shaping up to be a veritable “who’s who” of modern stock car racing. The roster includes heavy hitters like Kyle Larson, the defending Chili Bowl champion and a three-time winner of the event.

Christopher Bell, who dominated Tulsa from 2017 to 2019, is also back to reclaim his throne. Then you have Ty Gibbs, J.J. Yeley, Josh Bilicki, and Corey Day all throwing their hats in the ring.

Perhaps most interestingly, Sheldon Creed will be making his debut at the event, adding another layer of intrigue to the week. When you look at that lineup, it’s clear that winning a Golden Driller is becoming just as coveted as a grandfather clock at Martinsville or a surfboard at Fontana.

Carrying Momentum from Phoenix to Tulsa

It is impossible to ignore the hot streak Love is riding. His 2025 campaign was a masterclass in consistency and clutch performance. He secured the title by outdueling Connor Zilisch at Phoenix Raceway, capping off a year where he visited Victory Lane twice, racked up nine top-five finishes, and finished in the top-10 an impressive 22 times.

He has secured his future, returning to the No. 2 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in 2026 to defend his title. But right now, his focus is singular. From January 12-17, the only thing that matters is dirt.

For Jesse Love, this isn’t just another race. It’s an opportunity to erase the memory of that 2024 flip and prove that his talent transcends pavement. The Chili Bowl doesn’t hand out participation trophies, but Love has never been one to ask for handouts. He’s coming to fight.