Jesse Iwuji

Jesse Iwuji
Iwuji at ISM Raceway in 2018
Birth name	Jesse Ekene Iwuji
Born	(1987-08-12) August 12, 1987 Carrollton, Texas, U.S.
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	Navy
Years of service	2010–present
Rank	Lieutenant Commander
Website	www.jesseiwuji.com
College football career
Navy Midshipmen – No. 3
Position	Free safety
Major	General science
Personal information
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	182 lb (83 kg)
Career history
College	Navy (2005–2009)
Bowl games	2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl 2007 Poinsettia Bowl 2008 EagleBank Bowl 2009 Texas Bowl
High school	Hebron (Texas)
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
17 races run over 4 years
2022 position	43rd
Best finish	43rd (2022)
First race	2020 Henry 180 (Road America)
Last race	2023 Beef. It's What's for Dinner. 300 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
16 races run over 5 years
2022 position	105th
Best finish	39th (2019)
First race	2018 Chevrolet Silverado 250 (Mosport)
Last race	2022 Heart of America 200 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
Previous series
2018 2017 2016 2015–2018 2015	ARCA Racing Series NASCAR K&N Pro Series East NAPA Big 5 Late Model Series NASCAR K&N Pro Series West Whelen All-American Series
Last updated on: February 18, 2023.

Jesse Ekene Iwuji // (/iˈwuːdʒi/ ee-WOO-jee; born August 12, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver and officer in the United States Navy Reserve. He previously competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro for Jesse Iwuji Motorsports. He has also competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, and West, and ARCA Racing Series in the past.

Iwuji attended the United States Naval Academy, where he joined the school's college football and track and field teams; on the former, he was a free safety for the Navy Midshipmen. He graduated from the academy in 2010 and entered the United States Navy as a surface warfare officer, in which he served on the Mine Countermeasures ship Exultant and USS Comstock. After seven years on active duty, Iwuji transitioned to the Navy Reserve.

As a sailor and driver, Iwuji has served as an ambassador for both the military and NASCAR communities. In addition to supporting military philanthropic groups, he is also involved in various NASCAR events supporting the armed forces and veterans.

Early life and military career

Iwuji attended Hebron High School, where he was a letterman twice in football and three times in track. On the football team, he was a two-star recruit. During his junior year of high school, Iwuji was contacted by the Naval Academy and was offered a scholarship to the school. In addition to continuing his football career at Hebron (where he was named first-team all-district in his senior year), he attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School before heading to the Naval Academy. He formally enrolled at the Academy on June 30, 2005.

Although he played linebacker in high school, he was a free safety on the Navy football team. He played on special teams during his freshman year in 2006 before starting two games at safety in 2007, but missed six games during the latter due to ankle injury. In 2008, he played in the Army–Navy Game and the EagleBank Bowl. Iwuji was a backup to Kwesi Mitchell in 2009, though he saw action at strong safety in the season opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes due to Emmett Merchant's injury. Iwuji also competed on the track and field team, where he ran the 60-meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter dashes in addition to the 4 × 100-meter relay.

Iwuji graduated in 2010 as a Bachelor of Science and became a surface warfare officer. After working as a football coach at the Naval Academy Preparatory School, he entered active service. Iwuji worked in mine countermeasures with Mine Countermeasures Crew Exultant and was deployed to Bahrain in 2012. He was later deployed on the USS Comstock, a ship whose name would later appear on a NASCAR Xfinity Series car when it was featured on Darrell Wallace Jr.'s No. 6 Ford Mustang in 2016. In May 2017, he moved to the Navy Reserve. He is currently stationed in Ventura, California.

Racing career

Early career

While attending the Naval Academy, Iwuji first expressed interest in motorsports when the Midshipmen visited the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina before the 2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl, during which the players rode around the track. During his senior year, he started drag racing at Capitol Speedway in Crofton, Maryland, driving a Chrysler 300. After his graduation, he raced a Dodge Challenger. Four years later, he participated in the Mojave Mile speed trial; for the event, he upgraded his Challenger's engine to a horsepower of 1,100. With the new engine, Iwuji ran at a speed of 200.9 miles per hour (323.3 km/h), becoming the fifth modern Mopar driver to accomplish the feat at the Mojave Mile. Afterwards, he joined the Naval Postgraduate School staff in southern California, where he was involved in road racing – driving a Chevrolet Corvette – before making the transition to stock cars.

NASCAR and ARCA

Iwuji standing beside his No. 36 car before the West Series race at Sonoma in 2017

Iwuji (No. 36) racing Nicole Behar (No. 33) and Derek Kraus (No. 19) at Sonoma in 2017

Iwuji's No. 40 car at Sonoma in 2018

In 2014, Iwuji tested a stock car for Performance P-1 Motorsports at Irwindale Speedway. A year later, he began racing for the team after returning from deployment in the Persian Gulf. He first competed in the Whelen All-American Series, finishing 15th in his debut. He also made two NASCAR K&N Pro Series West starts that year at Evergreen Speedway, but did not start the race. He later ran the race at Meridian Speedway, finishing 23rd after a crash. In the winter, he ran 34 dirt track races, one of which included a fifth-place finish in a Winged 500cc Outlaw Kart A-main.

Iwuji started competing full-time in the K&N Pro Series West in 2016, driving the No. 36 for Patriot Motorsports Group. That year, he was named to the "Mighty 25: Veterans poised for impact in 2016" list by military website We Are The Mighty. He recorded a best finish of tenth at Orange Show Speedway. At the Utah Motorsports Campus race, he earned the Move of the Race Award, which is given to the driver who gains the most positions in a race. During the year, he also competed in the NAPA Big 5 Late Model Series at Meridian Speedway. Iwuji battled with Todd Gilliland and Salvatore Iovino for the K&N Pro Series West's 2016 Most Popular Driver Award, but lost to Iovino. He finished the season tenth in the final point standings and sixth the rookie standings. In February 2017, Iwuji was awarded the NASCAR Diverse Driver Award, which is given to a minority/female driver who "exemplifies outstanding performance both on and off the race track in encouraging awareness and interaction with NASCAR and motorsports".

Prior to the 2017 season, Iwuji became Patriot Motorsports Group's primary owner, while former National Football League linebacker Shawne Merriman partnered with the team to serve as owner of the No. 36 car. The two met during a fashion show in Los Angeles promoting Merriman's new clothing line; Merriman, a longtime motorsports fan, agreed to join PMG. Over the course of the season, Iwuji continued to race Outlaw Karts to develop his racing ability on both dirt and asphalt. In February, he ran his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race in the season opener at New Smyrna Speedway, in which he finished 21st.

In February 2018, Iwuji tested an ARCA Racing Series car for PMG at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for his series debut in the Lucas Oil 200. For the 2018 season, he intends to focus on competing in ARCA, particularly the larger tracks, in addition to running sporadic K&N East and West races. In August, Reaume Brothers Racing announced Iwuji would make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in the team's No. 34 Chevrolet Silverado. After starting 31st, he finished 25th.

Iwuji returned to Reaume Brothers Racing and the Truck Series in 2019, driving the No. 34 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He returned to the Reaume team and the Truck Series for the third year in a row in 2020. He made starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway, finishing 39th and 28th, respectively, both of which came in the team's No. 33.

In August 2020, he made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the MBM Motorsports No. 13 Toyota at Road America. Later in the year, he joined B. J. McLeod Motorsports for three of the final four Xfinity races of the season.

Jesse Iwuji, driving the #74 Gap 'Em Chevrolet for Mike Harmon Racing.

Iwuji returned to RBR in 2021 for his fourth part-time season with the team. Driving the No. 34, he attempted to qualify for the season-opener at Daytona for the first time but failed to make the race. He then drove the No. 33 at Las Vegas. Iwuji would manage to get a one-off Xfinity start driving the #74 car from Mike Harmon Racing, after the driver for the #74, Bayley Currey, had to be replaced unexpectedly. Mike Harmon Racing would put out a statement on social media, saying "This decision was made as a TEAM in which Bayley FULLY supports. He is still the primary driver for the 74, we have no intentions of change that, he is a huge part of this team." With sponsorship from racing app Gap 'Em, Iwuji would be able to wheel the car into a 31st place finish.

In August 2021, Iwuji announced that he was partnering with Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith to start an Xfinity Series team for the 2022 season, Jesse Iwuji Motorsports.

Personal life

Iwuji is of Igbo descent, an ethnic group of people in Nigeria. His parents, Sebastian and Enderline, immigrated to the United States in the 1980s. Enderline was a track runner in Nigeria, while daughter Emenderlyn ran track for Arkansas State. Like Iwuji, younger brothers Justin and Bryan played football, though at Texas State as a safety and linebacker, respectively; Justin had also been recruited to play quarterback for the Naval Academy Preparatory School before electing to attend Texas State. While Iwuji and his siblings are born in the United States, they hold Nigerian citizenship. As of 2017, Iwuji is one of three African-American drivers actively competing in a NASCAR series along with Wallace and Pro Series East driver Jay Beasley.

He is involved in various philanthropic and military-related activities. Iwuji is the racing ambassador for the Phoenix Patriot Foundation, a group formed after the September 11 attacks to support wounded soldiers. "We dedicate each race weekend to a wounded veteran and his family," Iwuji stated. "The effort has been widely supported by race officials and others. It's an opportunity for everyone to give back to the people who've made a sacrifice on their behalf." In March 2016, he drove Darrian Nordstrom, a four-year-old boy with terminal cancer, in a two-seat stock car. In May, he served as a host for a veteran's family prior to the Coca-Cola 600; as part of the NASCAR Salutes program, which honors United States military personnel, he was a guest co-host of NASCAR.com's GarageCam series.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

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	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2020	MBM Motorsports	13	Toyota	DAY	LVS	CAL	PHO	DAR	CLT	BRI	ATL	HOM	HOM	TAL	POC	IND	KEN	KEN	TEX	KAN	ROA 26	DAY	DOV	DOV	DAY	DAR	RCH	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	CLT					84th	01
	B. J. McLeod Motorsports	99	Chevy																														KAN 27	TEX 23	MAR	PHO 30
2021	Mike Harmon Racing	74	Chevy	DAY	DAY	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL	MAR	TAL	DAR	DOV	COA	CLT	MOH	TEX	NSH	POC 31	ROA	ATL	NHA	GLN	IND	MCH	DAY	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	CLT	TEX	KAN	MAR	PHO	101st	01
2022	Jesse Iwuji Motorsports	34	Chevy	DAY 27	CAL 36	LVS 34	PHO	ATL 27	COA DNQ	RCH	MAR	TAL DNQ	DOV	DAR	TEX 34	CLT	PIR 26	NSH	ROA 22	ATL 32	NHA	POC	IND	MCH	GLN	DAY 11	DAR	KAN 36	BRI	TEX	TAL 28	CLT	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	43rd	94
2023				DAY 30	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA	RCH	MAR	TAL DNQ	DOV	DAR	CLT	PIR	SON	NSH	CSC	ATL	NHA	POC	ROA	MCH	IRC	GLN	DAY	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	63rd	7

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World 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	NCWTC	Pts	Ref
2018	Reaume Brothers Racing	34	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS	MAR	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	IOW	GTW	CHI	KEN	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP 25	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX			68th	22
	Copp Motorsports	63	Chevy																						PHO 27	HOM
2019	Reaume Brothers Racing	34	Chevy	DAY	ATL	LVS 26	MAR	TEX 17	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	IOW	GTW	CHI 22	KEN	POC	ELD	MCH 21	BRI	MSP	LVS QL†					39th	80
			Toyota																				TAL 19	MAR	PHO	HOM
2020		33	Chevy	DAY	LVS	CLT 39	ATL	HOM																			49th	35
			Toyota						POC 28	KEN	TEX	KAN	KAN	MCH 22	DAY	DOV	GTW	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS 31	TAL	KAN	TEX	MAR	PHO
2021		34		DAY DNQ	DAY									TEX 28	NSH	POC	KNX	GLN	GTW	DAR	BRI	LVS	TAL				64th	23
		33	Chevy			LVS 31	ATL	BRI	RCH	KAN 38	DAR	COA	CLT
			Toyota																					MAR 30	PHO
2022		43	Chevy	DAY	LVS	ATL	COA	MAR	BRI	DAR	KAN 35	TEX	CLT	GTW	SON	KNO	NSH	MOH	POC	IRP	RCH	KAN	BRI	TAL	HOM	PHO	105th	01
† – Qualified but replaced by Justin Johnson

K&N Pro Series East

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	NKNPSEC	Pts	Ref
2017	Patriot Motorsports Group	36	Chevy	NSM 21	GRE	BRI	SBO	SBO	MEM	BLN	TMP							29th	62
			Toyota									NHA 18	IOW	WGI	LGY	NJM	DOV
2018			Chevy	NSM 22														41st	39
			Toyota		BRI 27	LGY	SBO	SBO	MEM	NJM	THO	NHA	IOW	GLN	GTW	NHA	DOV

K&N Pro Series West

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	NKNPSWC	Pts	Ref
2015	Patriot Motorsports Group	36	Ford	KER	IRW	TUS	IOW	SHA	SON	SLS	IOW	EVG 18	CNS	MER 23				37th	65
			Toyota												AAS DNQ	PHO
2016			Chevy	IRW 20					SON 15		IOW 12	EVG 15		MMP 13	MMP 12	MER 18	AAS 16	10th	404
			Toyota		KCR 14	TUS 15	OSS 10	CNS 16		SLN 18			DCS 18
2017			Chevy	TUS 20	KCR 16	IRW 21					SON 31							14th	358
			Toyota				IRW 18	SPO 15	OSS 14	CNS 14		IOW 31	EVG 17	DCS 13	MER 13	AAS 19	KCR 16
2018			Chevy	KCR 23	TUS 14	TUS 17	OSS 14	CNS										15th	156
	Norman Levin Racing	40	Chevy						SON 15	DCS
		21									IOW 25	EVG	GTW	LVS	MER	AAS	KCR

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing 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	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2018	Patriot Motorsports Group	34	Chevy	DAY 36	NSH	SLM	TAL 15	TOL	CLT 26	POC 24	MCH 24	MAD	GTW											33rd	630
	Max Force Racing	9	Ford											CHI 25	IOW	ELK	POC	ISF	BLN	DSF	SLM	IRP	KAN

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

External links

• Official website
• Jesse Iwuji driver statistics at Racing-Reference