Jesse Iwuji did not have the starting position he was hoping for at Kern County Raceway Park this past weekend in the K&N Pro Series West NAPA Auto Parts 150, but the end result was the best finish in the active duty Naval Officer’s career.
In practice a blown right front tire sent Jesse head-on into the wall, rendering his primary car unusable due to the heavy damage, and forcing the 28-year old to a backup car.
The team used their ingenuity to overcome an issue with Jesse’s race seat in the backup car. Using an extra fire suit as padding Jesse was able to reach the gas pedal allowing him to concentrate solely on driving to his best finish to date.
Iwuji turned his first laps in this backup car during qualifying, an effort that found him starting 23rd. Iwuji admittedly wasn’t the fastest car, but he once again kept his #36 Red List Group Chevrolet clean. After multiple wrecks took out cars in front of him, Iwuji made his way into the top 15.
Jesse said “The backup car was good for getting me through the race. I’m definitely happy we had it on standby.”
Iwuji stayed in the top 15, finishing in a career-best 14th in only his third K&N Pro Series West start.
Jesse said the race was “attrition warfare with all the wrecks happening around us, I was happy to keep the car clean and grab my first top 15 finish in the series.”
Iwuji gives thanks to his team, saying “It was a huge team effort to get through this tough day”
Iwuji would also like to thank his sponsors for supporting him in his endeavors. The Red List Group, LLC, PurOL USA, ATL Fuel Cells, Porterfield Brakes, DJ Safety, Rugged Radios, Sherwin Williams, Wax 4 Dads, The Joie of Seating, Angel 7 Industries, Iracing and Houston Motorsports
To find out more about Jesse Iwuji Racing go to www.jesseiwujiracing.com
To check out Patriot Motorsports, visit their website www.
To connect with Jesse on facebook go to www.facebook.com/
Recently, Iwuji got to give back to a special young man fighting the cruel disease known as cancer, as he gave four year old Darrian “DD” Nordstrom the experience of a lifetime by flying his family and him up to Boise, Idaho from their home in Las Vegas and giving young Darrian a ride in a two seater NASCAR race car in a video that can be viewed here:https://www.youtube.com/
Jesse Iwuji PR
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