Jesse Iwuji Motorsports is an American stock car racing team that competes part-time in the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

. It was founded in 2021 by

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

hall of famer,

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Among other accolades, he is the lea ...

, with

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

driver and

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

officer,

Jesse Iwuji Jesse Ekene Iwuji ( ; 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 Xfinity Series, driving the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro for Jesse Iwuji ...

, and they currently field the No. 34

Chevrolet Camaro SS The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

for owner/driver,

and Andre Castro.

History

On August 21, 2021,

announced the formation of his new team, Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, that will compete full-time in the

in 2022. He also announced that

, a former

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

, would co-own the team with him. In December 2021, Iwuji announced the sponsor for his team, which would be the Equity Prime Mortgage company. On December 9, 2022, Jesse Iwuji Motorsports filed a 4.125 million lawsuit against Equity Prime Mortgage for breach of contract. In February 2023, EPM filed a counterclaim on JIM.

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Car No. 34 history

On February 7, 2022, Iwuji and Smith partnered with

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

as the manufacturer for the

2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series was the 41st season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season started with the Beef. It's What's for Dinner. 300 on February 19 at Daytona I ...

season, with the number being 34, as a tribute to

Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was one of the first African-American drivers in NASCAR and the first African-American to win a race in the Grand National Series, NASCAR's h ...

. The team was scheduled to run the full 33-race schedule, with Iwuji competing for Rookie of the Year honors. The team operated out of the

JD Motorsports JD Motorsports, is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. It is owned and operated by Johnny Davis. It currently fields two Chevrolet Camaro SS teams: The No. 4 for Bayley Currey ...

race shop, with providing engines from

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 291 Cup Seri ...

. Iwuji started the 2022 season with a 27th place finish at

Daytona Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Da ...

, and followed with two top thirty finishes at

Auto Club A car club or automotive enthusiast community is a group of people who share a common interest in motor vehicles. Car clubs are typically organized by enthusiasts around the type of vehicle (e.g. Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang), brand (e.g. ...

and

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. At

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Jesse Little 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 ...

replaced Iwuji as a last-minute decision for an unknown reason, he would fail to qualify. Iwuji returned the following week at

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, finishing 27th. After the team failed to qualify for a second time at

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand ...

, it was announced on March 31 that

Kyle Weatherman Kyle Jay Weatherman (born August 28, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro for Jesse Iwuji Motorsports. He has previously competed in the ...

will drive the 34 car at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, where he would finish 28th. Although he was only scheduled for a one race deal, Weatherman returned the following week at Martinsville, giving the team their best-career finish of 16th. He beat that result after finishing 12th at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. Iwuji and Weatherman would split the driver's seat for the rest of the season. At

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, Weatherman finished in 10th, giving JIM their first-career top ten and their best finish to date. After

Noah Gragson Noah Quinn Gragson (born July 15, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Petty GMS Motorsports. He previously drove full-time in the NA ...

and

Landon Cassill Landon Douglas Cassill (born July 7, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Early career Cassill was born in Cedar Rapi ...

were disqualified from second and third place, Weatherman would later be scored in the eighth position. In the August race at Daytona, Iwuji survived numerous wrecks and earned his career best finish of 11th. He received sponsorship from

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is a diet cola produced by The Coca-Cola Company. In some countries, it is sold as Coca-Cola No Sugar. The drink was introduced in 2005 as Coca-Cola Zero as a new no-calorie cola. In 2017, the formula was modified and the n ...

in that race. On September 28, it was announced that

Kaz Grala Kaz Edward Grala ( ; born December 29, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. The Boston native is the youngest NASCAR ...

would drive the 34 car at the

Charlotte Roval Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

, finishing 35th after being involved in a late incident. The team ended the season with one top ten and ten top twenties, finishing 29th in owner's points. The team returned for the 2023 season, but only for a partial schedule due to sponsorship issues. Iwuji ran the season-opener at Daytona, finishing 30th after being involved in a wreck. He attempted to make the race at Talladega, but failed to qualify. On June 9, it was announced that the

USF2000 Championship The USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. As of 2022, it is sanctioned by the United States Auto ...

driver Andre Castro would make his

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

debut for the team at the

Chicago Street Course The Chicago Street Course is a street circuit in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States that will host the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series on July 1–2, 2023. The track was initially a conceptual track on iRacing made for the ...

, with sponsorship from the

University of Chicago Medical Center The University of Chicago Medical Center (UChicago Medicine) is a nationally ranked academic medical center located in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago. It is the flagship campus for The University of Chicago Medicine system and was establis ...

Car No. 34 results

References

External links

* * {{Chevrolet in NASCAR Auto racing teams in the United States NASCAR teams