Shawna Robinson, one in all simply 17 ladies to begin a NASCAR Cup Sequence race, gave delivery to 2 kids within the late Nineteen Nineties after which went on to compete in a mixed 21 races throughout the three tiers between 2001 and 2005 — amassing a pair of high 20 finishes. The opposite ladies who’ve began a NASCAR nationwide touring collection race after changing into moms embrace Sara Christian, Jessica Friesen, Tina Gordon, Ethel Mobley, Alli Owens and Kelly Sutton.
Subsequent weekend, Natalie Decker will attempt to observe of their footsteps when she returns to the monitor simply six months after giving delivery to her son Ian.
With a sponsorship from Wawa, Decker, 28, will drive the No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet within the NASCAR Xfinity Sequence race at Daytona Worldwide Speedway on Friday, Aug. 22. She should qualify for the night race, the Wawa 250, earlier that day.
Decker made the announcement on Fox & Buddies on Wednesday morning, although the chyron and host of the present erroneously acknowledged she can be the primary mother to compete in a NASCAR race.
This might be Decker’s first time again in NASCAR since Could 25, 2024, when she positioned twenty ninth within the Xfinity race in Charlotte.
Decker does, nevertheless, have a historical past of racing at her best at Daytona. The long-lasting speedway is the place Decker has notched career-best finishes in three totally different collection. She positioned sixth there in a 2019 ARCA race, fifth in a 2020 Truck Sequence race, and 18th within the 2024 season-opener for Xfinity.
In that Xfinity race final 12 months, Decker led seven laps. Her Truck end in 2020 was the all-time by a lady at Daytona in that collection. Between the Xfinity and Truck ranges, Decker has began 44 NASCAR races. She was the 2013 ARCA Midwest Tour Rookie of the 12 months and made her NASCAR debut within the Truck Sequence in 2019.
Decker belongs to a racing household. Her cousins Claire and Paige have competed in NASCAR, her father as soon as owned a monitor that hosted a snowmobile derby in Wisconsin, and her husband — Derek Lemke — has competed within the Truck Sequence.
Among the many different ladies competing on the highest ranges of NASCAR this season are Katherine Legge, who has appeared in a handful of Cup and Xfinity races, and full-time Truck driver Toni Breidinger.
