NASCAR Whelen Euro Series alumnus Andre Castro was announced as the driver of Jesse Iwuji Motorsports’ No. 34 Chevy in the inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the Chicago Street Course.
Andre Castro, an alumnus of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, has been announced by Jesse Iwuji Motorsports (JIM) as their driver for NASCAR Xfinity Series’ first visit to the Chicago Street Course, the The Loop 121 on 1 July.
Castro will be racing the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro with sponsorship from University of Chicago (UChicago), where he enrolled into his college education. University of Chicago’s Medicine faculty will be presented on the hood of the Chevrolet for the race at Chicago.
“Everyone please welcome Andre Castro to our driver lineup for the year for Jesse Iwuji Motorsports!” said JIM on their official announcement yesterday.
“With Andre being an alumni of the wonderful University of Chicago College, this made it a perfect fit for his first start to be at the Chicago Street Course! We look forward to seeing the amazing things this great driver will do in his career in NASCAR.”
Castro has spent most of his career in open-wheel racing, but he has made his fair share of appearances in stock car racing. His talent was noticed by powerhouse team PK Carsport, who signed the American as the team’s primary driver in the then-Elite 2 division for the 2019 EuroNASCAR season.
Castro immediately became a top contender in the series, as demonstrated by his performance in the season opening race at Valencia. Castro was in contention for the victory and was battling for the lead when he and fellow American Myatt Snider made contact on the final corner of the race, handing over the race victory to fellow rookie Giorgio Maggi.
Castro went on to score 5 podium finishes and 1 pole position on his way to finish 18th in the championship, having missed the final round at Zolder due to sponsorship issues. He then moved to DF1 Racing for the 2020 season, but travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 meant that he was unable to fulfill his full-time deal with the Austrian team that year.
With COVID-19 limiting Castro’s options overseas, he returned to the United States where he returned to his roots – open-wheel racing. He raced on part-time campaigns in both F1600 and USF2000 and also enrolled in the Team USA Scholarship programme, where he won the scholarship’s grand prize along with fellow New Yorker Max Esterson.
He used his scholarship to compete full-time in the 2022 USF Juniors season, where he finished fifth behind the wheel of International Motorsport’s No. 23 Ligier JS F4. Castro also raced in US F4 that year, finishing eighth in the standings after four podiums and a pole position in his debut race.
Castro moved back to USF2000 in 2023 with his F4 team Future Star Racing, but sponsorship issues once again prevented him from making a challenge for the title. He didn’t let that deter his ambitions though, as proven by his selection to IMSA’s Diverse Driver Development Scholarship and his upcoming Xfinity ride with Jesse Iwuji.
“I can finally announce that I’ll be attempting to make my NASCAR Xfinity Series debut on July 1st at the Chicago Street Course!” said the 24-year old on his social media. “Thanks to Jesse Iwuji Motorsports, UChicago College Admissions and Uchicago Medicine for this incredible opportunity.”
“Feeling really prepared thanks to the world-class Chevrolet Performance sim, and can’t wait to get out there and see what we can do.”
Castro is set to become the seventeenth driver to have made attempts on competing in both EuroNASCAR and NASCAR’s ‘big three’ national series.
Kevin O’Connell, Max Papis, Rick Crawford, Anthony Gandon, Anthony Kumpen, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Alon Day, Bobby Labonte, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Justin Kunz, Jacques Villeneuve, Myatt Snider, Loris Hezemans, Giorgio Maggi, Julia Landauer and Kenko Miura all had previously achieved the feat.
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