NASCAR’s Natalie Decker to run five Xfinity races after 2020 health battles
NASCAR driver Natalie Decker is scheduled to run five Xfinity races this season in the No. 23 Ford for Ryan Sieg Racing (RSS) in partnership with Reaume Brothers Racing for her debut in the series. She confirmed the plans on Twitter Friday evening.
“Let’s go racing!” Decker wrote in the post. “We are doing 5 races in hopes to add more.”
Red Street Records, a Christian music label, will sponsor Decker for the races and the car will feature a picture of one of the label’s artists, Jason Crabb, on the hood. Her first Xfinity race will be at the Daytona road course on Feb. 20, according to Fox Sports.
“This has been a secret for a while now and I’m so excited that Red Street Records is going to be a part of these five races that I’m doing in Xfinity,” Decker, 23, said in an interview with Christian music magazine CCM Magazine. “Which is so crazy to say — that I’m moving up a level and we’re going to be in the Xfinity Series.”
Decker ran 13 of 23 races in the Truck Series last season for Niece Motorsports, but faced multiple health issues throughout the year, including a complication from having her gall bladder removed that forced her to miss a race at Pocono. She also reported that a high heart rate and high blood pressure kept her from being medically cleared to race at Las Vegas, and the following month, she wrote on Twitter that a positive coronavirus test prevented her from running a Trans-Am sports car event she was scheduled to compete in.
Decker closed the last Trucks season with one top-five finish and one top-10. She entered 19 Trucks races for David Gilliland Racing (DGR-Crosley) in 2019 and ran a full ARCA schedule for Venturini Motorsports in 2018. She was previously a participant of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. In her interview with CCM Magazine she reflected on her go-karting roots and how she “slowly climb(ed) the ladder” in the industry.
“It’s so crazy to say we are here,” Decker said. “We are racing in NASCAR now, and we are at the second-highest level and we’re almost to the highest level.”
Rascal Flatts group member and Red Street Records founder Jay DeMarcus said it was a “no-brainer” for his company to help sponsor Decker.
“Her tenacity is really, really palpable when you’re around her,” DeMarcus said. “... I love being a part of helping people achieve their dreams and their goals, and it just made perfect sense for us.”
