Love It or Hate It, Jesse Love Is the Champion

One of the better NASCAR Xfinity Series seasons in recent history came to a close with Saturday’s (Nov. 1) finale at Phoenix Raceway. When the dust settled, it was Jesse Love hoisting the 2025 trophy as the final Xfinity champion (O’Reilly Auto Parts takes over sponsorship in 2026).

It’s a bookend to the season for Love, winning the opening and closing races of the year. Love had far and away the best car to end the night, as he ran away from the JR Motorsports duo of Connor Zilisch and Justin Allgaier on the final restart.

The pair of JRM drivers held strong out front at the beginning of the race. The two were the highest-finishing Championship 4 drivers in stage one, finishing behind Taylor Gray and Sheldon Creed. In stage two, Allgaier took the green-and-white checkered with Zilisch close behind.

But both drivers faded as the final stage went on, allowing Love to speed past and pull away. He wasn’t alone; Aric Almirola finished second and claimed the owner’s title for Joe Gibbs Racing with his performance. Zilisch ended the day third with Brandon Jones behind him in fourth. Allgaier rounded out the top-five finishers, his bid for back-to-back titles falling short.

Sammy Smith, Gray, Creed, Austin Hill and Justin Bonsignore were sixth through 10th. The fourth title contender, Carson Kvapil, was pretty dormant in the title fight all night and ended the race in 13th.

Jesse Love Bookends 2025 Season with Xfinity Championship

The Winners

Love being the champion is a clear and obvious winner. Say what you will about the format, he got it done under the rules that have been in place for several years now. He’s also been a top-tier contender all season, running near the front but just without the win count to show for it. Now, Love is the 2025 Xfinity Series Champion and that cannot be taken away from him.

Joe Gibbs Racing also deserves a nod here. Winning the owner’s title is always a big deal considering that’s what pays the big bucks for the teams. The organization as a whole ended the year super strong, Almirola delivering after JGR’s decision to leave him running the No. 19 over the final few playoff races. We’ll see them in the hunt for a title again next year; perhaps they’ll have a driver in the hunt for the driver’s title, too, with rumors the car will just have one full-time driver in 2026.

All of the beneficiaries of Sam Mayer‘s suspension also had great runs, even if they didn’t show in the final results. Ryan Sieg was running seventh before getting taken out by a bizarre incident from contact with Christian Eckes. Kyle Sieg ended the day 12th but was mixing it up near the top 10 all night. Nick Leitz even showed some strength at some points, almost breaking into the top 15 with the No. 28 car. He would end up a respectable 20th.

The Losers

JRM had three shots to walk away with another championship to add to the trophy case. Now, that spot will have to wait another year for a chance to be filled. The team was probably the best overall in the garage for 2025, but losing was an outcome that remained possible heading into tonight. Hopefully, the multi-car program can get close to rechanneling the magic they had next year.

Jeb Burton should also get a slight mention here. While it may have been out of his hands, he did claim a last-place finish, wrecking hard right after his run-in with Mayer. As Burton’s car sailed into the wall, I’m sure somewhere Mayer was out there smiling when he saw the No. 27 with major damage.

Fuel for Thought

Xfinity’s tenure is officially over as the title sponsor of the series. While it felt like it went by as fast as Xfinity Mobile, it has left the fan base with a lot of great memories.

After 11 years, the partnership ended with a bang as it delivered one of the best seasons in this division we’ve seen in a while. 2025 was filled with so much drama, great racing and amazing moments to look back on for years to come.

Like the sport says, names truly were made here.

Xfinity Reflective on 11 years as NASCAR Entitlement Sponsor 

Paint Scheme of the Week

Almirola’s No. 19 adorned a new look for the finale this weekend and it was eye-catching, to say the least.

Maybe, it’s just because it’s new and my eyes haven’t adjusted to seeing this scheme over the other one. But it was hard to miss Almirola running up front.

Where to Next?

The Xfinity Series season has come to a close. The newly-rebranded NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will return to the track on Feb. 14, 2026 at Daytona International Speedway.

See y’all on Valentine’s Day to watch Love start his title defense.