Navy Sailor & NASCAR Driver: Jesse Iwuji
During his final shore assignment on active duty, this Sailor spent his weekends at the race track. As he continues to serve as a reservist in America's Navy. Jesse Iwuji is also chasing his dreams to become a NASCAR driver.
Jesse graduated from the Naval Academy where he played Division 1 College Football. After graduation, Jesse was commissioned as a SWO and embarked on his Navy journey. The Navy has brought Jesse to parts of the world he never imagined seeing. It wasn’t just exploring new cultures that gave Jesse a fresh outlook on life–it was his Navy brothers and sisters he traveled with along the way.
Teamed with men and women from diverse backgrounds, Jesse soon began to realize that individualism–something he had been taught his whole life–had to be put aside to succeed in this new environment. Teamwork became crucial to the success of Jesse’s assignments and the safety of his crew.
His work ethic is something I have never seen before. I would get these calls and text messages like one, two o’clock in the morning from Jesse. And I’d say: Man, what are you doing? And he would be in his racing simulator at one-thirty in the morning. He’ll spend any amount of time, any amount of effort to achieve his ultimate goal.- Shawne Merriman (Former Pro Football Player)
Onboard the ship, there was simply no room for error. Hard work, dedication and a relentless pursuit of success opened Jesse’s mind up to a place it had never been before. In May 2017, Jesse made the decision to transition into the Navy Reserve so he could pursue a racing career full-time. Even though he has seen great success in racing, he attributes much of it to the Navy. The Navy has taught him what success looks like, how to confront adversity, and to keep believing, even when the cards are stacked against you.
So many people have these big goals, these big dreams that they are too scared too scared to go after. And they go to the grave with them. I went to my first two ships for four years. Went on one deployment per ship. I just kept on having this vision of me racing in the Cup Series. And walking out onto driver’s intro when I was the ship on deployment. I made that decision on deployment that, hey NASCAR was where I was gonna go. Jesse Iwuji
For more information: https://www.navy.com/faces-fleet-ep-04-jesse-iwuji
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You can watch Jesse make his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut tomorrow at Las Vegas Motorspeedway. He will be driving in the #34 Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet for owner Olivia Morrison.
Texas based company setting the standard in the merchant marine industry with fuel monitoring and management systems on over 250 different ships...and 50% of the ships they are on are based in Nigeria. What a great fit! Thank you for jumping onboard for this weekend @FUELTRAX 🏁 pic.twitter.com/amzV5aUeWn— Jesse Iwuji (@Jesse_Iwuji) February 26, 2019
