“(It is) uniquely challenging”, Jesse Love remarked recently about ‘The Paperclip’. After last weekend’s thrilling finishes at Homestead-Miami Speedway, NASCAR heads to Martinsville Speedway next. The short track, known as ‘The Paperclip’, is half a mile with unique features such as tight, hairpin-style corners and crowded straightaways that Love has not been able to conquer yet. However, Richard Childress’s young star is more determined this season.
The main reason for his motivation lies in the prize – the grandfather clock. Martinsville track founder Clay Earles introduced the temporal tradition in 1964. Renowned legends have claimed one or more of the large showpieces – and Jesse Love is eager to join that roster.
Jesse Love is prepared for the best!
Well, there has been no dearth of excellence for the No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet driver. Jesse Love has been a sparkling gem in Richard Childress’s Xfinity Series fold. He clinched his first win at Talladega in his Xfinity debut year of 2024 and started 2025 with a win at Daytona! He held off Haas Factory Team Ford drivers Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed to snap up the season opener. Now, Love has his eyes set on Martinsville. During the 2024 spring race, Love finished in 9th place, his career-best finish there. In the playoff race last November, he gave his best to advance to the Championship 4 race but failed to do so by finishing 12th, after which he called it a “Mickey Mouse race” in frustration toward the crashes and aggressive driving.
Now, as he heads to the 2025 spring race, the Marin Corps 250 this Saturday, Jesse Love feels more confident. In fact, he is so sure in himself that his house already has room for the towering grandfather clock trophy. In a recent interview with NASCAR journalist Chris Weaver, the Richard Childress Racing driver divulged how his house caters to his racetrack interests. “I’m not a superstitious person at all. But for some reason, I have this one corner in my house. I kind of put plants or mirrors or paintings just to fill it up and make it look presentable. But there’s this one corner of my house in the dining room that has no decoration.”
Plants and mirrors are great decor for a house, however, a grandfather clock is something special. If you are a fan of the ‘Coffee with Kenny’ with Kenny Wallace, you can probably see the grandfather clock in his living room! Wallace notched up two wins at Martinsville in his Xfinity Series career and one of them sits proudly for everyone to see during his videos, and it looks like Jesse Love is saving some space just for that.
Jesse Love confessed that he aims to fill up that space with a grandfather clock. The RCR driver’s heart is calling for it: “I have kept it that way as long as I have been racing in the NASCAR top three series. I’ve had a chance to win a grandfather clock twice a year. And I’d like to fill it up one day… That’s sitting there open for a reason if that day ever comes.”
Did you know @RCRracing‘s Jesse Love @jesselovejr1 has a special spot cleared in his house ready for when he wins a @MartinsvilleSwy Grandfather Clock? #NASCAR #Xfinity pic.twitter.com/zdOHhuSZPR
— Chris Weaver (@chris8video) March 27, 2025
Jesse Love and the No. 2 Xfinity Series team will be thoroughly focusing on this week’s trophy. He shared some insights on their preparation for the track that gives him jitters. “Martinsville is probably my least favorite track that we go to. We need and want to be better than we were there last season. I’ve put in a lot of work to prepare for this weekend, and, hopefully, we can do just that. Danny (Stockman, crew chief) and the guys have changed the setup for our car, and we feel like it should be an improvement that will allow us to race where we know we should be, at the front of the field.”
That motive to be at the front of the field has reverberated through generations in NASCAR. After all, all the legendary Martinsville winners cherish the prizes they have received.
An immortal piece of memory
Martinsville Speedway was opened in 1947, 17 years before the grandfather clock trophy came into being. For the racers, the 500-lap slogs were especially daunting. The legends who could endure the perils of short track racing at ‘The Paperclip’ deserved a fitting trophy. That is why Clay Earles thought about presenting a custom-made grandfather clock, something that could also be a showpiece at home. Fred Lorenzen was the first to win the clock in 1964. The topmost legends include Richard Petty, who owns 12, Darrell Waltrip (11), Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson (both have 9). All these winners faced a common conundrum – where to put so many grandfather clocks?
Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson kept all of them except for one. “They are all on display in my man cave, all but one. One I gifted to Bruton Smith [former owner of Speedway Motorsports Inc.]. Being friends with him and his neighbors, essentially, he would always talk about that Martinsville clock.” Then 84-time Cup Series race winner Darrell Waltrip also shared his glory with family and associates.“I have three in the house, they are such beautiful clocks. I couldn’t believe it the first time I ever won one, but you can only have so many grandfather clocks in your house.” Jeff Gordon ultimately said that he cherishes his nine prizes. “It’s a very good problem to have.”
It would probably take Jesse Love considerable time to encounter such a problem. For now, Richard Childress‘s young speedster can look forward to hearing the first chimes of the Martinsville clock.
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