Jesse Iwuji

Jesse Ekene Iwuji (/iˈwuːdʒi/ ee-WOO-jee;[1] born August 12, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver and officer in the United States Navy Reserve. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in the No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado for Reaume Brothers Racing and in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in the No. 13 Toyota Supra for MBM Motorsports.[2]

Jesse Iwuji
Iwuji at ISM Raceway in 2018
Birth nameJesse Ekene Iwuji
Born (1987-08-12) August 12, 1987
Carrollton, Texas
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branchNavy
Years of service2010–present
RankLieutenant Commander[1]
College football career
Navy Midshipmen – No. 3
PositionFree safety
MajorGeneral science
Career history
College
Bowl games2006 Meineke Car Care Bowl
2007 Poinsettia Bowl
2008 EagleBank Bowl
2009 Texas Bowl
High schoolHebron (Texas)
Personal information
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight182 lb (83 kg)
NASCAR K&N Pro Series West career
Debut season2015
Current teamPatriot Motorsports Group
Car number36, 40
EngineChevrolet
Crew chiefJoe Ransom
Starts35
Championships0
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish10th in 2016
Finished last season15th (2018)
Previous series
2018
2017
2016
2015		ARCA Racing Series
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
NAPA Big 5 Late Model Series
Whelen All-American Series
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Car no., teamNo. 13 (MBM Motorsports)
First race2020 Henry 180 (Road America)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career
10 races run over 3 years
Truck no., teamNo. 33 (Reaume Brothers Racing)
2019 position39th
Best finish39th (2019)
First race2018 Chevrolet Silverado 250 (Mosport)
Last race2020 Henry Ford Health System 200 (Michigan)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of August 8, 2020.

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.[3] On the football team, he was a two-star recruit.[4] During his junior year of high school, Iwuji was contacted by the Naval Academy and was offered a scholarship to the school.[5][1] In addition to continuing his football career at Hebron (where he was named first-team all-district in his senior year),[3] he attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School before heading to the Naval Academy.[1] He formally enrolled at the Academy on June 30, 2005.[4][6]

Although he played linebacker in high school, he was a free safety on the Navy football team.[1] 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,[3] though he saw action at strong safety in the season opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes due to Emmett Merchant's injury.[7] Iwuji also competed on the track and field team,[5] where he ran the 60-meter, 100-meter, and 200-meter dashes in addition to the 4 × 100-meter relay.[8]

Iwuji graduated in 2010 as a Bachelor of Science and became a surface warfare officer.[5] After working as a football coach at the Naval Academy Preparatory School, he entered active service.[9] Iwuji worked in mine countermeasures with Mine Countermeasures Crew Exultant and was deployed to Bahrain in 2012.[1] 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.[10] In May 2017, he moved to the Navy Reserve.[11][12] He is currently stationed in Ventura, California.[13][6]

Racing career
Iwuji's car at Sonoma Raceway in 2018

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.[14] During his senior year, he started drag racing at Capitol Speedway in Crofton, Maryland, driving a Chrysler 300.[9] After his graduation, he raced a Dodge Challenger.[1] 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.[15] Afterwards, he joined the Naval Postgraduate School staff in southern California,[9] where he was involved in road racing – driving a Chevrolet Corvette – before making the transition to stock cars.[16]

In 2014, Iwuji tested a stock car for Performance P-1 Motorsports at Irwindale Speedway.[17] A year later, he began racing for the team after returning from deployment in the Persian Gulf.[12] He first competed in the Whelen All-American Series, finishing 15th in his debut.[9] 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.[18] 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.[19]

Iwuji started competing full-time in the K&N Pro Series West in 2016, driving the No. 36 for Patriot Motorsports Group.[17] That year, he was named to the "Mighty 25: Veterans poised for impact in 2016" list by military website We Are The Mighty.[20] He recorded a best finish of tenth at Orange Show Speedway.[21] At the Utah Motorsports Campus race, he earned the Move of the Race Award,[22] which is given to the driver who gains the most positions in a race.[23] During the year, he also competed in the NAPA Big 5 Late Model Series at Meridian Speedway.[19] 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.[24] He finished the season tenth in the final point standings and sixth the rookie standings.[12] 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".[25]

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.[11] Over the course of the season, Iwuji continued to race Outlaw Karts to develop his racing ability on both dirt and asphalt.[26] In February, he ran his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race in the season opener at New Smyrna Speedway,[27] in which he finished 21st.[28]

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.[13] 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.[29] After starting 31st, he finished 25th.[14]

Iwuji returned to Reaume Brothers Racing and the Truck Series in 2019, driving the No. 34 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.[30]

Iwuji returned to the Reaume team in the Truck Series for the third year in a row in 2020. He made starts at Charlotte and Pocono, finishing 39th and 28th, respectively, both of which came in the team's No. 33. In August, he would make his Xfinity Series debut in the MBM Motorsports No. 13 Toyota at Road America.[2]

Personal life

Iwuji is of Igbo descent, an ethnic group of people in Nigeria.[7] His parents, Sebastian and Enderline, immigrated to the United States in the 1980s.[31] 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.[32] 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.[33]

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.[34] "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."[9] In March 2016, he drove Darrian Nordstrom, a four-year-old boy with terminal cancer in a two-seat stock car.[35] In May, he served as a host for a veteran's family prior to the Coca-Cola 600;[36] 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.[37]

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 BRI LVS CLT KAN TEX MAR PHO -* 01* [38]

Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
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 NGTC 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 [39]
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 [40]
Toyota TAL
19		 MAR PHO HOM
2020 33 Chevy DAY LVS CLT
39		 ATL HOM -* -* [41]
Toyota POC
28		 KEN TEX KAN KAN MCH
22		 DAY DOV GTW BRI LVS TAL MAR PHO
† – Qualified but replaced by Justin Johnson

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 [42]
Toyota AAS
DNQ		 PHO
2016 Chevy IRW
20		 SON
15		 IOW
12		 EVG
15		 UMC
13		 UMC
12		 MER
18		 AAS
16		 10th 404 [43]
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 [44]
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 [45]
Norman Levin Racing 40 Chevy SON
15		 DCS
21 IOW
25		 EVG GTW LVS MER AAS KCR

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 [46]
Toyota NHA
18		 IOW WGI LGY NJM DOV
2018 Chevy NSM
22		 41st 39 [47]
Toyota BRI
27		 LGY SBO SBO MEM NJM THO NHA IOW GLN GTW NHA DOV

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 [48]
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

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References
  1. Myers, Meghann (June 14, 2015). "Naval Academy SWO races to break into pro NASCAR". The Navy Times. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  2. Nguyen, Justin (August 3, 2020). "Xfinity Newcomers RC Enerson, Jesse Iwuji Among Ringers for Road America". The Checkered Flag.
  3. "Jesse Iwuji". Navy Midshipmen. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  4. "Jesse Iwuji". 247Sports.com. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  5. Fryson, Sydnel (July 13, 2016). "West Meets East: Iwuji Takes on Daytona". NASCAR Home Tracks. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  6. "Jesse Iwuji, LT USNR | Pritzker Military Museum & Library | Chicago". www.pritzkermilitary.org.
  7. "2009 NAVY FOOTBALL GAME 3: AT PITT" (PDF). CBS Sports Network. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  8. "2006-07 TOP-INDOOR MARKS" (PDF). CBS Sports Network. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  9. Carroll, Ward (June 24, 2015). "Navy officer feels the need for NASCAR speed". We Are The Mighty. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  10. Valade, Jodie (June 30, 2016). "WITH XFINITY SERIES' MILITARY TRIBUTE, WALLACE, IWUJI SHARE BOND". NASCAR. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  11. Bonkowski, Jerry (February 17, 2017). "Ex-NFL star Shawne Merriman, racer Jesse Iwuji team up in NASCAR K&N effort". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
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  26. "VIDEO: Jesse Iwuji Is Expanding His Horizons". National Speed Sport News. March 3, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
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  35. Murto, Craig (March 30, 2016). "Craig Murto: A racer can give back w/photo". The Northern Virginia Daily. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
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