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Iwuji teams with Emmitt Smith on full NASCAR Xfinity season

Iwuji teams with Emmitt Smith on full NASCAR Xfinity season
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Navy Reserve lieutenant commander Jesse Iwuji is now juggling a budding NASCAR career. After 15 total starts across NASCAR's national series, Iwuji will, at last, get a chance to run a full season.

Iwuji teams with Emmitt Smith on full NASCAR Xfinity season
Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, left, and NASCAR driver Jesse Iwuji pose with the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro SS Iwuji will drive in the upcoming 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 7, 2022. Iwuji will run his first full season in NASCAR with backing from Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith and General Motors. (Garry Eller/HHP for Chevy Racing via AP)

He's teamed with NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith to build an Xfinity Series program backed by General Motors. Iwuji will drive No. 34 as a tribute to Wendell Scott, the first Black driver to win a Cup Series race.

Although Iwuji will race in the second-tier Xfinity Series, he joins Bubba Wallace as the only two Black drivers competing full-time at NASCAR's national level.