Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth seem to be inseparable on the track. And not in a good way. In Dover, at the BetRivers 200 last weekend, they clashed for the third time this season. It was a race filled with multiple incidents, including an early stack-up after Brent Crews brushed the wall, sending Jeb Burton and Parker Retzlaff spinning out of contention. But it was Love and Caruth’s moment that grabbed the headlines, with the Hendrick-backed driver later admitting fault.
Rajah Caruth admitted that he was in the wrong in Dover
Speaking after the O’Reilly race in Dover, Caruth told Jeff Gluck that he realizes how he’s affected Love’s races multiple times in 2026. “Putting myself in their shoes, that’s more than one time that I’ve impacted their day. Today was, for sure, the one that really impacted their day. I’m not sure I handled it [properly]. I’ve been the one who’s messed it up more than one time. All I can do is my best and try to learn from it,” he said.
After the race @rajahcaruth_ said he’s racing for his life and obviously didn’t mean to take out Jesse Love. But he indicated he’s not sure a “sorry” will be enough this time after another incident between the drivers: pic.twitter.com/RWTo5RG2zX
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) May 16, 2026
It was Lap 100, and both were fighting for the lead. But Caruth slipped up beneath Love, and both drivers ended up against the wall. The No. 2 RCR car was heavily damaged, and Love could only finish 23rd in the end. Caruth finished 10 places higher, but it was still a disappointing outing on a day when he felt he should have won.
“There is a lot I needed to do different there,” he said in another interview. “I wasn’t the cleanest on my execution there. I took a race-winning car and finished outside the top 10 and damaged it.”
Love, of course, wasn’t happy. As soon as Caruth hit him, he got on the radio to complain, and his spotter, in three words, summed things up. “You got Rajah’d,” he stated.
Caruth also got involved in another incident with Harrison Burton and Sammy Smith while the three were battling for position. Smith’s late move got Caruth loose underneath Burton, leaving him squeezed in the middle with nowhere to go. But none of that was likely to matter to Love after yet another run-in between the two this season.
When did the two drivers ignite their 2026 rivalry?
The Hendrick talent and Love first had an incident at Martinsville this March, when Caruth got into Love with three laps to go while battling for sixth. The contact sent both drivers up the track and cost them positions, with Love finishing 12th while Caruth spun into the wall and dropped to 25th.
“You better buckle them [expletive] belts tight. We’re racing for sixth, and you ******* shipped us twice,” Danny Stockman, Love’s crew chief, told Caruth even before he got out of the car.
Love was looking to finish in the top five on the day. Instead, he had to settle for an outside-the-top-10 finish. “Obviously, completely over the top. And then we’re side by side, and then he, like, doubles down on it, and then, like, runs me in, up into the marbles and just misses the corner again,” Love said about Caruth afterward.
A few weeks later, at Rockingham Speedway, it was Rajah again who triggered another incident with Love after clipping the rear of the No. 2 car while trying to cross underneath him on the final lap, sending Love into the wall
Martinsville, Rockingham and now Dover for Raj into Jesse https://t.co/MZnEOWdLPq
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) May 16, 2026
At this point, it may feel less like a coincidence and more like a pattern. Getting shunted by the same driver over and over again is bound to get frustrating, but on the bright side for Love, he does not have to worry too much about Caruth from a championship standpoint right now. Love sits comfortably in third place, just behind Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed, while Caruth is further back in 14th.
The season is still long, though, and anything can happen. Maybe Rajah Caruth and Jesse Love are not done crossing paths just yet. What stands out is that all three incidents this season have involved Caruth being the one who initiated contact. At some point, Love may run out of patience and decide to respond in kind.
