#166: Navy to NASCAR w/ Jesse Iwuji

#166: Navy to NASCAR w/ Jesse Iwuji

By Department of Veterans Affairs

Sometimes, all it takes is a whiteboard and a marker to jump-start a dream into reality. This week’s Borne the Battle features guest Jesse Iwuji, whose creative and hardworking mindset led him to overcome great challenges and become a NASCAR driver.


Growing up, Iwuji excelled at both track and football. His high school accomplishments led him to the Naval Academy's football team where he played safety. He graduated from the academy in 2010. After seven years active duty, Jesse transitioned to the Navy Reserve.

After his football career ended, Iwuji found competitiveness in racing. However, he was at a disadvantage compared to his peers who started racing at a very early age: Iwuji started in his mid 20’s. He lacked sponsorship and he wasn’t born into a racing family. Despite this, his determination and led him to a variety of open doors. He funded the first part of his NASCAR K&N racing career through a variety of ways to include starting his own business. Currently he is racing in the  NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series

 View this post on Instagram 


Talladega Superspeedway, here we come😁! 🏁 @rbr_teams #NASCAR #NavyToNASCAR


A post shared by  Jesse Iwuji (@jesse_iwuji) on Oct 8, 2019 at 11:10am PDT


Today, Iwuji represents sponsors from several different organizations, which many help Veterans. He uses racing as a platform to advocate for Veterans' rights and he shares his passion in Veteran communities and schools. To Jesse, nothing is impossible if you have vision and hard work behind it.

 Additional Links 

https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5326https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5327https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5328https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5329https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5331#BtBattle Veteran of the Week: Army Veteran 

 J.D. Meador II

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