Jesse Iwuji

Jesse Ekene Iwuji ( ; On the football team, he was a two-star recruit. In addition to continuing his football career at Hebron (where he was named first-team all-district in his senior year),

Although he played linebacker in high school, Iwuji was a free safety on the Navy football 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 with a Bachelor of Science degree and became a surface warfare officer. In May 2017, he moved to the Navy Reserve. Iwuji was promoted from lieutenant commander to commander in June 2025.

Iwuji is stationed in Ventura, California. 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. Afterwards, he joined the Naval Postgraduate School staff in southern California,

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 In 2014, Iwuji tested a stock car for Performance P-1 Motorsports at Irwindale Speedway. 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. He finished the season tenth in the final point standings and sixth the rookie standings.

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. 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, Iwuji made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the MBM Motorsports No. 13 Toyota at Road America.

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 No. 74 car from Mike Harmon Racing, after the driver for the No. 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 changing 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.

Iwuji 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 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.)

O'Reilly Auto Parts Series NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts 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 MBM Motorsports 13 Toyota DAY LVS CAL PHO DAR CLT BRI ATL HOM HOM TAL POC IRC KEN KEN TEX KAN ROA26 DRC DOV DOV DAY DAR RCH RCH BRI LVS TAL ROV 84th 01 B. J. McLeod Motorsports 99 Chevy KAN27 TEX23 MAR PHO30 2021 Mike Harmon Racing 74 Chevy DAY DRC HOM LVS PHO ATL MAR TAL DAR DOV COA CLT MOH TEX NSH POC31 ROA ATL NHA GLN IRC MCH DAY DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL ROV TEX KAN MAR PHO 101st 01 2022 Jesse Iwuji Motorsports 34 Chevy DAY27 CAL36 LVS34 PHO ATL27 COADNQ RCH MAR TALDNQ DOV DAR TEX34 CLT PIR26 NSH ROA22 ATL32 NHA POC IRC MCH GLN DAY11 DAR KAN36 BRI TEX TAL28 ROV LVS HOM MAR PHO 43rd 94 2023 DAY30 CAL LVS PHO ATL COA RCH MAR TALDNQ 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 2025 DGM Racing withJesse Iwuji Motorsports 91 Chevy DAY ATL COA PHO LVS HOM MAR DAR BRI CAR TAL20 TEX CLT NSH MXC POC ATL CSC SON DOV IND IOW GLN DAY PIR GTW BRI KAN ROV LVS TAL MAR PHO 61st 17 2026 DAY ATL COA PHO LVS DAR MAR ROC BRI KAN TAL TEX GLN DOV CLT NSH POC COR25 SON CHI ATL IND IOW DAY DAR GTW BRI LVS CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*

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 Pts Ref 2018 Reaume Brothers Racing 34 Chevy DAY ATL LVS MAR DOV KAN CLT TEX IOW GTW CHI KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP25 LVS TAL MAR TEX 68th 22 Copp Motorsports 63 Chevy PHO27 HOM 2019 Reaume Brothers Racing 34 Chevy DAY ATL LVS26 MAR TEX17 DOV KAN CLT TEX IOW GTW CHI22 KEN POC ELD MCH21 BRI MSP LVSQL† 39th 80 Toyota TAL19 MAR PHO HOM 2020 33 Chevy DAY LVS CLT39 ATL HOM 49th 35 Toyota POC28 KEN TEX KAN KAN MCH22 DRC DOV GTW DAR RCH BRI LVS31 TAL KAN TEX MAR PHO 2021 34 DAYDNQ DRC TEX28 NSH POC KNX GLN GTW DAR BRI LVS TAL 64th 23 33 Chevy LVS31 ATL BRD RCH KAN38 DAR COA CLT Toyota MAR30 PHO 2022 43 Chevy DAY LVS ATL COA MAR BRD DAR KAN35 TEX CLT GTW SON KNX NSH MOH POC IRP RCH KAN BRI TAL HOM PHO 105th 01 † – Qualified but replaced by Justin Johnson

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

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 Pts Ref 2018 Patriot Motorsports Group 34 Chevy DAY36 NSH SLM TAL15 TOL CLT26 POC24 MCH24 MAD GTW 33rd 630 Max Force Racing 9 Ford CHI25 IOW ELK POC ISF BLN DSF SLM IRP KAN

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 Pts Ref 2017 Patriot Motorsports Group 36 Chevy NSM21 GRE BRI SBO SBO MEM BLN TMP 29th 62 Toyota NHA18 IOW WGI LGY NJM DOV 2018 Chevy NSM22 41st 39 Toyota BRI27 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 Pts Ref 2015 Patriot Motorsports Group 36 Ford KER IRW TUS IOW SHA SON SLS IOW EVG18 CNS MER23 37th 65 Toyota AASDNQ PHO 2016 Chevy IRW20 SON15 IOW12 EVG15 MMP13 MMP12 MER18 AAS16 10th 404 Toyota KCR14 TUS15 OSS10 CNS16 SLN18 DCS18 2017 Chevy TUS20 KCR16 IRW21 SON31 14th 358 Toyota IRW18 SPO15 OSS14 CNS14 IOW31 EVG17 DCS13 MER13 AAS19 KCR16 2018 Chevy KCR23 TUS14 TUS17 OSS14 CNS 15th 156 Norman Levin Racing 40 Chevy SON15 DCS 21 IOW25 EVG GTW LVS MER AAS KCR