“We Plan On Eventually Expanding”

Fresh off an 11th-place effort in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ race at Daytona International Speedway last week, Jesse Iwuji and his Jesse Iwuji Motorsports No. 34 hit the track at Darlington Raceway sporting a tribute to one of Wendell Scott’s paint schemes and hinting at bigger future plans.

Iwuji and Kyle Weatherman have split the entry in 2022, with the 11th at Daytona Iwuji’s best effort of the year and an eighth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway the highest result from Weatherman, who’s also in the car for the “Lady in Black.”

“[Scott] was a trailblazer for the sport and NASCAR — the first black driver to win a cup series race in the sport,” Iwuji told Frontstretch’s Dalton Hopkins ahead of the race. “It was so cool to see that — I didn’t obviously see it in real life, but to go back and watch it and just see how the whole thing played out with everything he had to go through, he’s just a true, true pioneer in this sport, really helping pave the way for diversity.

We’re honoring Wendell Scott this weekend with our @eracingassocia1 #34 Chevrolet Camaro SS. He was an amazing trailblazer for the sport and the reason why we selected our racecar number for the team. May his heavenly soul Rest In Peace, thank you so much for all you’ve done sir pic.twitter.com/nBHLcI9Obl

— Jesse Iwuji Motorsports (@JIMS__official) September 2, 2022

“It took a while to continue to diversify in the sport, but [I think it] has done a great job over the last few years really working on continuing to bring new faces into the sport. We have new owners, we have new drivers, we have all new kinds of folks coming from all angles of the world coming into the sport now. So it’s great to see that and we look forward to showcasing this car today here at this race.”

Weatherman has scored five top-20 finishes in 11 starts this year with the team, providing a boost to the team co-owned by NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith.

“We wanted to look for somebody who obviously had a lot of good talent and also had a lot of great experience,” Iwuji said. “He’s been driving for a very long time and he’s been driving at the national level for for a while now, so he brings not only just a lot of experience, but a lot of wisdom to the team as well.

“And, with everything he’s gone through — all the different series he’s raced in, he’s even raced in Cup for a bit, so just all the…