| Jesse Little | |
| Birth Name: | Jesse Hardin Little |
| Birth Date: | 15 April 1997 |
| Birth Place: | Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Achievements: | 2010 USAC Eastern Young Guns Ford Focus Midget Car Series Champion |
| Awards: | 2013 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Rookie of the Year 2010 USAC Eastern Young Guns Ford Focus Midget Car Series Rookie of the Year |
| Total Cup Races: | 2 |
| Years In Cup: | 1 |
| Prev Cup Pos: | 70th |
| Prev Cup Year: | 2018 |
| Best Cup Pos: | 70th (2018) |
| First Cup Race: | 2018 Quaker State 400 (Kentucky) |
| Last Cup Race: | 2018 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (Bristol) |
| Cup Wins: | 0 |
| Cup Top Tens: | 0 |
| Cup Poles: | 0 |
| Total Busch Races: | 56 |
| Years In Busch: | 2 |
| Prev Busch Pos: | 110th |
| Prev Busch Year: | 2022 |
| Best Busch Pos: | 19th (2020) |
| First Busch Race: | 2020 NASCAR Racing Experience 300 (Daytona) |
| Last Busch Race: | 2021 Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas) |
| Busch Wins: | 0 |
| Busch Top Tens: | 2 |
| Busch Poles: | 0 |
| Total Truck Races: | 47 |
| Years In Truck: | 7 |
| Prev Truck Pos: | 27th |
| Prev Truck Year: | 2022 |
| Best Truck Pos: | 19th (2018) |
| First Truck Race: | 2015 Lucas Oil 200 (Dover) |
| Last Truck Race: | 2022 UNOH 200 (Bristol) |
| Truck Wins: | 0 |
| Truck Top Tens: | 8 |
| Truck Poles: | 0 |
| Updated: | November 5, 2022 |
Jesse Hardin Little (born April 15, 1997) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro for Jesse Iwuji Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 02 and 20 Chevrolet Silverado for Young's Motorsports. He is the son of former NASCAR driver Chad Little. He and his father as well as Jason Little (Jesse's uncle and Chad's brother) previously owned a Truck, East and West Series team, which was known as Team Little Racing and then JJL Motorsports, from 2012 to 2019.
A native of Sherrills Ford, North Carolina and a third-generation racer, Little began his racing career in quarter midgets at the age of 7,[1] moving up to Bandoleros in 2007 and Legends cars in 2009.[2] He won the 2010 USAC Eastern Focus Young Guns midget car championship,[3] and in 2011 competed in the UARA Stars late model series.[2]
Little made his debut in NASCAR competition at the age of 15, competing in seven K&N Pro Series East events in 2012;[4] driving a family-owned No. 97 Chevrolet,[5] he was the youngest driver ever to start a race in the series.[2] He returned to the K&N Pro Series East full-time in 2013, driving for Coulter Motorsports;[6] he finished in the top 10 eight times on his way to the series' Rookie of the Year award. He returned to K&N East competition again in 2014, winning his first race at New Hampshire. Little raced in the K&N East series on a part-time basis in 2015, winning at Iowa Speedway with Hattori Racing Enterprises.
In 2015, he added a limited schedule in the Camping World Truck Series in a partnership with ThorSport Racing.[7]
In 2016, he joined his uncle's Truck Series team, JJL Motorsports. He made two attempts in the fall races at Texas and Homestead finishing 20th and 18th respectively.
In 2017, Little and JJL returned, running 4 races. The first one was at Dover, where he finished 14th. He then finished a season-best 8th in Iowa. Little next raced at Bristol, continuing his strong performance, finishing 13th. His last start of 2017 came in Phoenix, where he was involved in a late-race crash, finishing 18th.
In 2018, Little expanded his schedule to 9 races.[8] He finished with six top tens, the highest finish a 6th at Iowa, his best finish to date in the Truck Series. In July 2018, Little joined Premium Motorsports for his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and finishing 35th.[9] Little later joined Gaunt Brothers Racing at Bristol, also finishing 35th.[10]
In 2019, Little increased his Truck schedule again, planning to run 12 to 15 races in the newly renamed Gander Outdoors Truck Series.[11]
On November 7, 2019, JD Motorsports announced Little would race full-time for the team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series starting in 2020.[12] Little finished 19th in points with two top-ten finishes.
Little moved to B. J. McLeod Motorsports' No. 78 for the 2021 season.[13] He lost his ride with McLeod's team to Josh Williams in 2022. On December 22, it was announced that Little would drive for Young's Motorsports in the Truck Series for at least 12 races with the No. 02, splitting with Kaz Grala.[14] Little also ran a one-off Xfinity event at Phoenix, replacing Jesse Iwuji, who was at his military duties.
On September 14, 2022, Little announced that he would retire from NASCAR after the 2022 UNOH 200 at Bristol.[15] [16]
He is the son of former NASCAR driver Chad Little. They are not related to NASCAR on Fox pit reporter Jamie Little.
(key) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)| Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | Pts | Ref | |||
| 2018 | Premium Motorsports | 7 | Chevy | DAY | ATL | LVS | PHO | CAL | MAR | TEX | BRI | RCH | TAL | DOV | KAN | CLT | POC | MCH | SON | CHI | DAY | KEN 35 | NHA | POC | GLN | MCH | 70th | 01 | [17] | |||||||||||||||
| Gaunt Brothers Racing | 96 | Toyota | BRI 35 | DAR | IND | LVS | RCH | CLT | DOV | TAL | KAN | MAR | TEX | PHO | HOM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NASCAR Xfinity Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | Pts | Ref | |||
| 2020 | JD Motorsports | 4 | Chevy | DAY 19 | LVS 14 | CAL 28 | PHO 21 | DAR 36 | CLT 15 | BRI 26 | ATL 20 | HOM 18 | HOM 15 | TAL 13 | POC 10 | IND 18 | KEN 14 | KEN 14 | TEX 14 | KAN 33 | ROA 28 | DAY 18 | DOV 23 | DOV 23 | DAY 10 | DAR 18 | RCH 25 | RCH 33 | BRI 25 | LVS 23 | TAL 25 | TEX 15 | MAR 22 | PHO 29 | 19th | 527 | [18] | ||||
| 15 | CLT 30 | KAN 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | 78 | Chevy | DAY 17 | DAY 14 | ATL 22 | MAR 32 | TAL 26 | DAR 32 | DOV 37 | MOH 24 | TEX 29 | GLN 27 | IND | DAR 32 | RCH | BRI 28 | LVS | TAL | CLT | TEX 31 | KAN 30 | MAR | PHO | 33rd | 215 | [19] | ||||||||||||||
| Toyota | HOM 32 | LVS 26 | PHO 40 | COA DNQ | CLT 18 | NSH 27 | POC 29 | ROA | ATL 28 | NHA 28 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 99 | MCH 32 | DAY | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | 34 | Chevy | DAY | CAL | LVS | PHO DNQ | ATL | COA | RCH | MAR | TAL | DAR | TEX | CLT | PIR | NSH | ROA | ATL | NHA | POC | IND | MCH | GLN | DAY | DAR | KAN | BRI | TEX | TAL | CLT | LVS | HOM | MAR | PHO | N/A | 0 | [20] | |||
| NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Team Little Racing | 97 | Toyota | DAY | ATL | MAR | KAN | CLT | DOV 30 | TEX | GTW | IOW | KEN | ELD | POC | MCH | BRI | MSP | CHI 30 | NHA | LVS | TAL | MAR | TEX 15 | PHO | HOM 14 | 42nd | 87 | [21] | |||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Rette Jones Racing | 30 | Toyota | DAY | ATL | MAR | KAN | DOV | CLT DNQ | 35th | 62 | [22] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 81 | TEX 19 | IOW | GTW | KEN | ELD | POC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | BRI 17 | MCH | MSP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MB Motorsports | 63 | Chevy | CHI 29 | NHA | LVS | TAL | MAR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| JJL Motorsports | 97 | Toyota | TEX 20 | PHO | HOM 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | DAY | ATL | MAR | KAN | CLT | DOV 14 | TEX | GTW | IOW 9 | KEN | ELD | POC | MCH | BRI 13 | MSP | CHI | NHA | LVS | TAL | MAR | TEX | PHO 18 | HOM | 33rd | 110 | [23] | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Ford | DAY | ATL 8 | LVS | MAR | DOV 9 | KAN | CLT 16 | TEX | IOW 6 | GTW 7 | CHI | KEN | ELD | POC | MCH | BRI 26 | MSP | LVS 15 | TAL | MAR | TEX 7 | PHO | HOM 9 | 19th | 275 | [24] | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | DAY | ATL 23 | LVS 19 | MAR | TEX 13 | DOV 29 | KAN | CLT 14 | TEX | IOW 22 | GTW 21 | CHI | KEN | POC | ELD | MCH | BRI 32 | MSP | LVS | TAL | MAR | PHO DNQ | HOM 17 | 26th | 149 | [25] | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Diversified Motorsports Enterprises | Chevy | DAY 24 | LVS | CLT 21 | ATL 35 | HOM | POC | KEN | TEX | KAN | KAN | MCH | DAY | DOV | GTW | DAR | RCH | BRI | LVS | TAL | KAN | TEX | MAR | PHO | 90th | 01 | [26] | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Young's Motorsports | 02 | Chevy | DAY 6 | LVS | ATL 15 | COA | MAR 27 | BRI | DAR 14 | KAN 24 | TEX 19 | CLT 32 | GTW 20 | SON | KNO | NSH 19 | MOH | BRI 25 | TAL | HOM | PHO | 27th | 213 | [27] | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | POC 26 | IRP 15 | RCH | KAN 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | Ref | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Team Little Racing | 97 | Chevy | BRI | GRE | RCH 11 | IOW 18 | BGS | JFC 17 | LGY | CNB | COL | IOW | NHA 23 | DOV 22 | GRE 3 | CAR 5 | 20th | 210 | [28] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | BRI 14 | GRE 16 | FIF 26 | RCH 16 | BGS 5 | IOW 14 | LGY 3 | COL 12 | IOW 4 | VIR 11 | GRE 7 | NHA 6 | DOV 5 | RAL 16 | 9th | 449 | [29] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | NSM 18 | DAY 12 | BRI 13 | GRE 4 | RCH 10 | IOW 16 | BGS 16 | FIF 6 | LGY 9 | NHA 1 | COL 4 | IOW 10 | GLN 5 | VIR 8 | GRE 9 | DOV 23 | 6th | 546 | [30] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | Toyota | NSM | GRE | BRI 25 | IOW 3 | BGS | LGY | COL | NHA 11 | DOV 30 | 21st | 184 | [31] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hattori Racing Enterprises | 1 | Toyota | IOW 1 | GLN 13 | MOT | VIR | RCH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Rette Jones Racing | 29 | Toyota | NSM | MOB 3 | GRE | BRI Wth | VIR | DOM | STA | COL | NHA 17 | IOW 7 | GLN | GRE | NJM | DOV 2 | 21st | 161 | [32] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | JJL Motorsports | 97 | Toyota | NSM | GRE | BRI 23 | SBO | SBO | MEM | BLN | TMP | NHA | 34th | 55 | [33] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hattori Racing Enterprises | 01 | Toyota | IOW 10 | GLN | LGY | NJM | DOV | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NASCAR K&N Pro Series West results | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pts | Ref | ||
| 2013 | Team Little Racing | 97 | Chevy | PHO | S99 | BIR | IOW | L44 | SON | CNS | IOW | EVG | SPO | MMP | SMP | AAS | KCR | PHO 2 | 49th | 42 | [34] | |
| 2014 | PHO | IRW | S99 | IOW | KCR 5 | SON | SLS | CNS | IOW | EVG | KCR 3 | MMP | AAS | PHO 4 | 21st | 121 | [35] | |||||
Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points