Jesse Iwuji sounds a lot like Ricky Bobby from Talladega Nights when explaining how a surface warfare officer in the United States Navy got into stock car racing.
“I love cars and I love going fast,” the former Navy football player said.
Iwuji has made a meteoric rise up the ranks of professional auto racing, reaching the first rung of the ladder on the prestigious NASCAR circuit just five years after making his official debut. Last month, the 2010 Naval Academy graduate made his first start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
“If you asked any motorsports fan or random person on the street they would say it’s impossible to jump into stock car racing at age 27 and make it all the way to the highest level,” Iwuji said.