Jesse Love earns Phoenix pole ahead of Brandon Jones
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 17, 2026
Qualifying order
Jesse Love put himself at the front of the field for the Timberland PRO 200 at Phoenix Raceway, turning a lap of 27.336 seconds at 131.694 mph to earn the pole in Avondale, Arizona. He beat Brandon Jones by 0.240 seconds and secured his 11th career pole. Jones qualified second, William Sawalich took third, Sheldon Creed landed fourth and Taylor Gray was fifth. Love enters the race as the defending series champion and returns to the track where he won the title last season. The pole gives him a clean start in a championship fight that already has him in the thick of it, and the race is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on CW, the ESPN app and MRN.
Championship picture
Love arrived at Phoenix two points behind championship leader Creed, so his qualifying run carried extra weight beyond the starting spot itself. Creed still held a top-five starting position, which kept him close to the front as the title battle moved into another key race weekend. Corey Day also remained in the mix after qualifying 11th. Day had won the previous two O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races before Phoenix and entered the event seven points behind Creed in the standings, so his place in the field still leaves him with room to push forward during the race. Justin Allgaier qualified 13th, giving another experienced driver a place in the middle of the grid. The front of the lineup set up a strong early battle, with Love, Jones, Sawalich, Creed and Gray all positioned within the top five and the points race waiting to play out over the full distance at Phoenix.
Practice troubles
Brent Crews showed speed earlier in the day by leading practice, but several drivers ran into problems before qualifying was complete. Harrison Burton suffered a fire in practice, a setback that interrupted his day before the session turned to grid position. Sam Mayer had a blown engine and did not qualify, taking him out of the starting lineup altogether. Brad Perez and Joey Gase also missed qualifying runs because of issues, leaving them without a chance to fight for a better spot. Those problems shifted the shape of the field and added more pressure to the teams that still made it through qualifying cleanly. Love’s pole run stood out even more against that backdrop, and the top of the order now gives him the first shot when the green flag drops at Phoenix.
