The NASCAR calendar shifts from a storied short track in Rockingham to its biggest superspeedway this weekend. And one veteran has decided to take up the challenge of competing at the 2.66-mile oval. Heading to Talladega, 41 cars are already on the entry list for the Xfinity Series’ Ag-Pro 300, including a name that fans haven’t seen on track since February 2023. However, with only 38 spots available on the grid, drivers will be forced to fight it out for a chance to compete at the historic superspeedway.

Lieutenant Commander of the United States Navy, Jesse Iwuji, will be one of them! The Carrollton, Texas-native will be piloting the No. 91 Chevy for DGM Racing, an organization that has a technical alliance with his team, Jesse Iwuji Motorsports. Having failed to qualify at Talladega twice, will he succeed in doing so this time around?

Jesse Iwuji is looking forward to his NASCAR return

Jesse Iwuiji has been serving in the Navy since 2010, and has been an active athlete all his life. He was a two-star football recruit in his high school days before enrolling in the Naval Academy in 2005. He continued playing football for the Navy and was also an exceptional track and field athlete, competing in the 100-meter and 600-meter events. However, a passion for racing has always burned inside him, and in 2025, he is taking another crack at NASCAR’s most daunting superspeedway.

It’s been quite a racing journey for 37-year-old Jesse Iwuji. His love for the sport started in 2006, when the Navy Midshipmen football team visited Lowe’s Motor Speedway and rode around the track. In his junior year of high school, he took up drag racing, and by 2015, he made his NASCAR Whelen All-American Series debut, finishing 15th.

Since then, Iwuji has competed in races in the Truck Series since 2018, and he first joined the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2020, running part-time for MBM Motorsports and B. J. McLeod Motorsports. In his four-year career in the sport’s second tier, the racer has made a total of 17 starts, with his last one coming at the 2023 Daytona 500. However, results have been hard to come by for the driver, who hasn’t finished higher than 11th during that timeframe.

Sharing his thoughts ahead of the Talladega race, Jesse Iwuji said, “I must admit, however, I’ve been looking forward to getting back behind the wheel, and I have stayed ready for when an opportunity would present itself. It’s amazing to get back at such a storied track like Talladega Superspeedway, where anything can happen. I’m beyond thankful for our partnership between Chevrolet and DGM x JIM, and all the other folks who have been amazing throughout this journey.”

Iwuji’s No. 91 Chevy will feature a patriotic red, white, and blue paint scheme as well as the American Veteran Center’s National Memorial Day Parade logo. Lincoln Electric and the eRacing Association have been named associate sponsors, and should he qualify, the Texas-based racer will be the fourth racer to drive the No. 91 this year, after Josh Bilicki, Myatt Snider, and CJ McLaughlin. The team also fielded a second full-time entry with Ryan Ellis, who piloted the No. 71 Chevy.

Jesse Iwuji has the experience of competing at Talladega Superspeedway. He finished 18th at the ‘Dega’ in a 2018 ARCA race, and ended up 19th at the track the following year in the NASCAR Truck Series. Driving the No. 34 Chevy for his team in 2022, the racer also finished 28th at the 2.660-mile track in the Xfinity Series, having failed to qualify for the 2022 Ag-Pro 300 earlier that year. The 37-year-old has some unfinished business at the venue, and it’s a record he will want to set right this time around.

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DGM Racing is excited to collaborate with JI Motorsports

Jesse Iwuji will be facing an uphill task ahead of his race at Talladega. The competition will be tough to qualify for the 2025 Ag-Pro 300, and part-time racers may struggle to compete at the superspeedway. Last week, Katherine Legge failed to qualify for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Rockingham, but ended up competing at the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 after replacing J. J. Yeley at Joey Gase Motorsports. With no testing, no practice time outside the race weekend, will Iwuji manage to qualify with just some simulator time? Time will tell.

However, Mario Gosselin, Owner of DGM Racing, is excited about the prospect of collaborating with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports. He said, “We’re really looking forward to Jesse’s debut with DGM x JIM at Talladega Superspeedway. Joining forces with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports and working with Jesse has been a seamless fit for our organization. Thanks to the support from great partners like Chevrolet Accessories and Lincoln Electric, we’re proud to bring this special patriotic car design to the track and join Jesse in the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C.”

Iwuji’s one-off appearance at Talladega is the perfect underdog story. The driver will be desperate to make a mark in the Xfinity Series after a two-year break, and if he finishes inside the top 10, it’s well within the realm of possibility that more appearances in NASCAR may be on the cards. A lot is riding on the result at the 2025 Ag-Pro 300, and it remains to be seen if the racer will live up to the expectations. Do you think Jesse Iwuji will qualify for the upcoming race? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!