LONG POND, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 28: Jesse Iwuji, driver of the #33 Reaume Brothers Racing Toyota, waits on the grid prior to the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Pocono Organics 150 to benefit Farm Aid at Pocono Raceway on June 28, 2020 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
NFL legend joins NASCAR as team owner
Shane Walters
Emmett Smith joins Jesse Iwuji Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series
Emmitt Smith is a NFL Hall of Fame running back. He’s purchased a portion of the No. 34 Jesse Iwuji Motorsports team. The team runs in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The No. 34 was previously used by Wendell Scott as he drove in the NASCAR Cup Series between 1961-1973.
The superstars on the owner’s list in NASCAR continues to grow. Last year, Michael Jordan became a co-owner of 23XI Racing. In the same year, rapper Pitbull bought into Trackhouse Racing. In 2022, Floyd Mayweather entered the sport with The Money Team Racing.
“I think there’s tremendous opportunity here,” Emmett Smith said.
“NASCAR has actually opened the door for minorities to come in and actually own their teams. Ownership is really the key to any type of change you really want to create. If you don’t own it, you can’t really change it. It’s not a bottom-up approach, it’s really a top-down approach. I’ve never seen a poor person tell a rich person how to invest their money.”
Smith added, “With that said, you have to be at the table to influence something in the most positive way.”
The new NASCAR team owner was at the race in Daytona on Saturday.
“I’m drinking out of a firehose right now trying to learn every aspect of this business from start to finish,” Smith continued.
“I don’t want to learn how to put a car together, but I definitely want to understand some of the strategy and some other nuances about the sport I can actually learn. I want to learn about the businesses around the sport, and I want to learn how to help this man become successful in this sport. This is new. Everything is a learning curve.”
“It takes patience. And we have to be patient. You know I didn’t start my very first game at the University of Florida until Week 3, even though I wanted to play in Week 1 and Week 2. We have to be patient with the process and trusting the process will yield results.”