Getty Jesse Iwuji Motorsports will return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The No. 34 Jesse Iwuji Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro will return with a new driver behind the wheel. The team will attempt to qualify for its second race of the season while taking on the streets of Chicago.
According to an announcement from JIM, Andre Castro will take over the No. 34 Chevrolet for the historic NASCAR weekend. The University of Chicago, Castro’s alma mater, will serve as his primary partner for the event.
University of Chicago: “Best of luck to our alum Andre Castro AB’22 for this Saturday’s race in Grant Park. Here’s a sneak peek at the @UChicago representation at the #nascarchicago Go Maroons! 👀”
We can’t wait to have @acastroracing pilot the #34 car this weekend!
The Windy City native will also attempt to make his national series debut after previously competing in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Castro made 14 starts between 2019 and 2020, and he delivered four podium finishes for PK Carsport. Three runner-ups stand out as his best performances.
Castro will not have an easy path to his first Xfinity Series start. There are 43 entries trying to qualify for only 38 spots on the grid, and the No. 34 has precious few owner points to fall back on.
The only two entries lower in the standings that are trying to qualify are the No. 50 of Pardus Racing Inc. and the No. 74 of CHK Racing. The No. 36 of DGM Racing is 11 points ahead of the No. 34 JIM entry, the No. 66 of MBM Motorsports is 15 points ahead, and the No. 88 of JR Motorsports is 17 points ahead. Castro will have to have a better lap than these entries in order to have any hope of making the field.
JIM Will Have a New Crew Chief Atop the Pit Box
GettyJesse Iwuji makes a pit stop at Daytona International Speedway.
The No. 34 team will have a new crew chief for the race weekend on the streets of Chicago. Per the entry list, Castro will have Andrew Abbott atop the pit box. This marks a change from the team’s other start in 2023 when Dan Stillman called the shots at Daytona International Speedway.
Abbott is a veteran of NASCAR with 210 races as a crew chief. 94 of these were in the Xfinity Series as he spent two seasons with Jeremy Clements Racing and one season with Sam Hunt Racing. Jeremy Clements’ third-place finish at Pocono Raceway in 2020 and John Hunter Nemechek‘s third-place finish at Richmond Raceway in 2021 stand out as the best finishes.
Abbott’s time in the Craftsman Truck Series has featured a variety of drivers listening to him over the radio. He has worked with such drivers as Kris Wright, Layne Riggs, Josh Reaume, Armani Williams, Spencer Boyd, Josh Bilicki, Tyler Young, Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill, and Bubba Wallace among many others.
The members of this group combined to deliver seven top-10 finishes and two top-fives. Spencer Boyd’s fourth-place finish at Daytona International Speedway in 2019 is the best finish, followed by Scott Lagasse, Jr.’s fifth-place finish at Daytona in 2018.
JIM Has Only Competed in 1 Event in 2023
A nearly full-time entry in 2022, the No. 34 Jesse Iwuji Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro was only in the starting lineup for 30 of the 33 events. It failed to qualify at Phoenix Raceway, Circuit of the Americas, and Talladega Superspeedway.
Kaz Grala made one start for JIM — the Charlotte Roval — while Jesse Iwuji competed in 11 events. Kyle Weatherman made the most starts at 18, and he delivered the team’s best finish. He crossed the line eighth overall at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Weatherman also finished 12th at Darlington Raceway for the first-year team.
The 2023 season has told a different story. Iwuji kicked off the year by competing at Daytona International Speedway, but he failed to qualify for the spring race at Talladega Superspeedway. The Xfinity Series race in Chicago will only be the team’s third attempt at qualifying in 2023.
The team had multiple primary partners during the 2022 season, headlined by Equity Prime Mortgage. However, JIM filed a $4.125-million lawsuit against Equity Prime Mortgage in 2022, alleging that the company had breached its contract.
The amount of the lawsuit was the combination of two failed payments in 2022 totaling $375,000 and the full 2023 season deal totaling $3,750,000.
According to court documents filed in Florida, an executive at EPM told an executive at JIM “on or about September 27” that the company could not make any additional compensation payments as part of the original agreement.
The documents state that the unnamed executive said that “EPM got ‘margin called’ and was suffering due to mortgage rate hikes.” The documents also state that an executive at EPM texted an executive at JIM “on or about September 29” to say that the sponsor would not be making its October 1 payment or any other payments thereafter.