Andre Castro, who has previously competed in divisions such as USF2000 and the Formula 4 United States Championship, will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in the inaugural Chicago Street Race.
Castro, 24, will join forces with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports to pilot the No. 34 Chevrolet Camaro in the highly-anticipated weekend of racing on the streets of Chicago, which will mark the first street course event for NASCAR’s National Series.
Everyone please welcome @acastroracing to our driver lineup for the year for Jesse Iwuji Motorsports! 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! #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/8MQ6hNSJuK
— Jesse Iwuji Motorsports (@JIMS__official) June 9, 2023
A native of New York City, New York, Castro received the prestigious Team USA Scholarship in 2021, a program allowing American-born racecar drivers to compete in various divisions outside the United States.
Among past winners of this scholarship include NASCAR drivers Andy Lally, AJ Allmendinger, Ashton Lewis, Joey Hand, and Jerry Nadeau. 2023 Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden was also a recipient of the award.
Jesse Iwuji Motorsports has scaled down to a part-time schedule in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season, after running full-time last season with multiple drivers. The team’s No. 34 has attempted events at Daytona and Talladega so far this season.
The goal for the 24-year-old driver will be to make the field for one of the most historic events in the history of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, in hopes of putting Jesse Iwuji Motorsports in the field for the first time since Daytona.