Stock Car Spotlight: Jesse Love & Kaden Honeycutt

Welcome back to Stock Car Spotlight where our writers Tanner and Jey come together to talk about the best and the brightest stars coming up through the NASCAR ladder system.

In this third installment, the duo will be going over Xfinity Series hotshoe Jesse Love and Craftsman Truck Series competitor Kaden Honeycutt.

If you’re interested in checking out the first two parts of this series, part one covers Connor Zilisch and Brent Crews, and that article can be accessed here.

After that, our dynamic duo published the second part of the series covering two Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers, Corey Heim and Isabella Robusto, which can be found here.

With that out of the way, let’s dive deep into Jesse Love!

Jesse Love – NASCAR Xfinity Series

Unlike his good friend Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love’s path to stock car racing was a bit more linear and routine compared to some of the greats of the past.

The California native spent much of his early childhood in quarter midgets where he was inundated with accolades before moving up to USAC where he won three different division titles in the same season, a feat that has not been equaled in USAC history.

That success led the rapid teenager to late models where he harnessed his stock car skills before moving up to the ARCA West Series in 2020 to replace the departing Hailie Deegan at Bill McAnally Racing.

At just 15 years, 9 months, and 24 days old, Love dominated the ARCA West calendar, becoming the youngest driver to claim in series history on the back of three wins and nine top-5 finishes in 11 events.

Jesse spent the rest of his high school years honing his stock car skills in ARCA where he earned a second title in the West Series in 2021 as well as his first ARCA Menards Series win at Salem.

The Toyota Racing Development talent followed this up by running much of the ARCA Menards Series schedule in 2022 where he impressed with another win, this time on the dirt at the Illinois State Fairgrounds leading to a full-time opportunity with in the series for 2023.

Piloting the No. 20 Camry for Venturini Motorsports, Love struck all other competitors down all season, scoring wins in half of the series’ 20 events to run away with the championship.

Love’s overwhelming performance caught the eye of legendary Cup Series car owner Richard Childress, resulting in his current deal with the team to drive in the Xfinity Series.

Love wound up in victory lane in just his ninth career Xfinity Series start after winning a wild race at Talladega that put him in the Xfinity Series playoffs.

In the postseason, Jesse’s lack of experience caught up with him as he would find his No. 2 Whelen team eliminated before the title race in Phoenix. Even still, his lone win, 7 top-5s, and 18 top-10s and 8th-place points finish left quite the impression.

The 20-year-old racer kicked off 2025 the right way by claiming his second career Xfinity Series win at Daytona to put his team in the playoffs early while adding five more top-10s in the first nine weeks.

Love made his Cup Series debut with RCR and sponsor C4 Energy at Bristol in the No. 33 Camaro where he ended a hard day in 31st, five laps off the pace.

Not long after, Love entered the Texas race for Beard Motorsports in their No. 62 entry and maintained well for much of the day until getting loose off of the exit of turn 2 late in the day, sliding into the inside wall and ending the day 31st yet again.

RCR gave him another ride in the 33 car at Kansas where he came home 29th, three laps off the pace of race winner Kyle Larson. Love has an extensive Cup Series schedule ahead of him, splitting his starts between the 33 and 62.

In the Xfinity Series, Love outfoxed the competition in NASCAR’s return to Rockingham, pacing the field for 53 laps and stealing the lead back from Sammy Smith on an overtime restart to score his third career victory. Unfortunately, it turned out Love’s car failed post-race inspection due to a rear suspension infraction.

Jesse took that lost victory personally and has responded in kind with two consecutive top-10s, even if his third-place rank at Talladega came with a bit of controversy.

Despite the lack of wins, Love has the speed and talent to be a force at the Cup Series level in the right situation, but I worry that moving up with RCR could hinder his development, especially if Love moving up means veteran champion Kyle Busch is leaving the team at season’s end.

Kaden Honeycutt – NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Kaden Honeycutt possesses all the makings of a true underdog story of modern NASCAR.

In an era defined more by funding than by driving ability, Honeycutt carved out a place in the Craftsman Truck Series for himself and is aiming even higher.

Though Kaden owns a much smaller resume than a few of his fellow prospects, that issue relates more to funding than anything, an all-too-common tale nowadays.

Honeycutt burst onto the scene in 2021 where he ran the full CARS Tour season. The driver from Willow Park, Texas finished with two wins, seven top-5s, and 12 top-10s in 13 races, earning rookie of the year honors and a second-place points result in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour.

He’d made some part time ARCA starts before this for Empire Racing and his own team, but the equipment wasn’t quite capable of competing for victory, scoring top-10s at Five Flags Speedway and Nashville Fairgrounds for his team in 2019. 

When 2022 kicked off, Kaden saw very few offers cross his desk, so he traded in his racing suit for a virtual one, piloting a virtual NextGen Ford Mustang for RFK Racing in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series.

In that season, Honeycutt and fellow rookie teammate Parker Retzlaff struggled to make an impact with Kaden reeling in the team’s only top-10 of the season, a fourth at Talladega in the fall. He returned the next year where he placed ninth after the spring Talladega race.

Across 2022 and 2023, Honeycutt took rides with several Truck Series teams. With his funding woes becoming more prominent as he climbed the NASCAR ladder, his options were limited.

Despite that, Kaden flexed his muscle at the 2022 season finale at Phoenix where he placed ninth in the No. 30 truck for On Point Motorsports.

After starting some races for Roper Racing where he scored another ninth-place run at Dirt Bristol and another top-10 for Young’s Motorsports at Darlington, Honeycutt received his first opportunity in a quality ride at Pocono.

Honeycutt attempted to qualify the No. 44 Chevy Silverado for Niece Motorsports where he made the show by qualifying 17th. The 20-year-old racer evaded a late multi-truck crash to finish the day 20th.

Another quality drive at Phoenix for Niece earned the young Texan a shot at a larger slate with the team for 2024 where he’d make 14 starts in the No. 45 Silverado.

Over those 14 starts, the short track ace found much of his success on tracks over a mile in length, notching a pair of fourth-place finishes at Kansas and putting together a strong seventh-place showing at Charlotte.

Team owner Al Niece announced in early October that Honeycutt would be driving for the flagship No. 45 truck full-time for 2025, which Honeycutt handsomely rewarded him for by earning his sixth top-10 of the year at Phoenix.

To further back up Niece’s confidence, Honeycutt wrapped up the 2024 CARS Pro Late Model Tour championship and went on to claim the 2024 Snowball Derby.

Alongside his adventures in the Truck Series, the young hotshot moved over to drive virtually for JR Motorsports in the No. 8 Chevy where his performance improved dramatically with his new team. In 18 starts, Honeycutt tacked on two top-5s and seven top-10s, bringing home a career-best 14th-place points finish.

At just 21 years old, Kaden Honeycutt has shown impressive pace, taking on the likes of Corey Heim, Layne Riggs, and other NASCAR veterans such as Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Hemric.

With five top-10s through the first nine events of the year, Honeycutt seems to be peeling back the layers and uncovering his true potential; if he can keep it up, he’ll hoist up a trophy in the Truck Series in the near future.

(Top Photo Credit: James Gilbert/Getty Images)