NASCAR Chevy Granted Rockingham Xfinity Win After Different Chevy Disqualified

Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 8 NASCAR Chevy, walked away from Rockingham Speedway with a new trophy to his name, but he wasn’t the one who crossed the line first in the Xfinity Series race on April 19^th, 2025. That would be Jesse Love, whose No. 2 Chevy finished well shut of the competition, but turns out, that race car wasn’t exactly legal, resulting in his disqualification from the event.

In postrace inspection, Love’s No. 2 NASCAR Chevy race car was found to be in violation of 14.14.2.I-5.H (all mating surfaces between the truck trailing arm and the U-bolt saddle must be in complete contact with each other). NASCAR Xfinity Series managing director, Eric Peterson, said that the race car did not conform to these specs, prompting officials to take away Love’s victory and give the honors to Smith, who crossed the line second.

“Unfortunately, that was not the case when we did the tear down on the two car and they were disqualified,” Peterson said of the No. 2 Chevy’s failure to comply to guidelines in a postrace conference. “[The trailing arm and U-bolt saddle] need to be tight and touching each other the whole time… This is an appealable infraction so I can’t go into too much details on it, but those parts all are together for sure and need to be tight and touching each other the whole time.”

Smith, who was also given the $100,000 Dash for Cash bonus because of his victory, said that he was happy to accept the victory – but understands that it’s a tough situation for Love and the No. 2 NASCAR Chevy team.

“It’s tough to kind of win them like that. I guess take them how you can get them,” said Smith. “It’s unfortunate. I’ve been on the other end of the stick where Jesse’s at.”

Love’s team, Richard Childress Racing, announced on April 21^st that it intends to appeal the disqualification. Love was ultimately credited with a 37^th-place finish, or dead last, in the Xfinity Series race at Rockingham.