Jesse Little’s Journey Through The Racing Ranks

Every NASCAR driver dreams of making it to the top level, but everyone has a different path of rising through the ranks.

In order to stay in the sport, drivers often have to piece together deals and rides in order to keep their name out there. This is what 25-year-old Jesse Little has done in the last three seasons, and he has since become an established driver in the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Camping World Truck series garages. He currently races part time in the Truck Series, but he looks to work his way up into full-time roles for the future.

Little comes from a racing family, as his father, Chad, scored six Xfinity Series wins in 1995 and a runner-up finish in the Cup Series’ race at Texas Motor Speedway in 1998. The younger Little began racing early in his childhood and, in the beginning, viewed it as a hobby. Eventually, he began to see it as a possible career.

“I grew up doing it, and it was fun,” Little told Frontstretch. “But it wasn’t until I was about, I want to say 10 or 11 [years old], where I had a little bit of success doing it and I was also growing up just enough to where I realized I’m good at this. I enjoy it. I’m enjoying it more, and maybe this is something much more serious.”

It takes a team to be successful in auto racing, and Little credits his father and the rest of his family for supporting him and giving him knowledge to help improve as a racecar driver.

“Extremely [important],” Little said. “For me, [the knowledge and support of family] was probably the main reason I’ve been able to have somewhat of a presence the last five, six, seven years in the national series.

“I think my dad was extremely helpful on the physical side, supportive of the teams and financial burdens and stuff like that. And then the rest of my family was extremely supportive when it came to running well or making mistakes and learning from it.”

Little is currently focused on finding a full-time home in NASCAR, but he has also had fun watching and competing in other forms of auto racing. Earlier this year, he was able to compete in the Chili Bowl Nationals, one of the most prestigious midget races on the calendar.

“I’ve become a big, big supporter of the dirt racing world and more specifically the open wheel stuff, dirt midgets and dirt cars,” Little said. “I kind of slowly got into it. I had a couple buddies that came from that side, and I’ve just really, thoroughly enjoyed getting more and more involved with it….