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.

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.

Iwuji was a backup to Kwesi Mitchell in 2009,[2] though he saw action at strong safety in the season opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes due to Emmett Merchant's injury.

[4] After working as a football coach at the Naval Academy Preparatory School, he entered active service.

[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.

[12][5] 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.

[13] During his senior year, he started drag racing at Capitol Speedway in Crofton, Maryland, driving a Chrysler 300.

[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.

[14] Afterwards, he joined the Naval Postgraduate School staff in southern California,[8] where he was involved in road racing – driving a Chevrolet Corvette – before making the transition to stock cars.

[17] 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.

[25] In February, he ran his first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race in the season opener at New Smyrna Speedway,[26] in which he finished 21st.

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.

[12] 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.

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.

Iwuji is the racing ambassador for the Phoenix Patriot Foundation, a group formed after the September 11 attacks to support wounded soldiers.

"[8] In March 2016, he drove Darrian Nordstrom, a four-year-old boy with terminal cancer, in a two-seat stock car.

[37] In May, he served as a host for a veteran's family prior to the Coca-Cola 600;[38] 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.