Natalie Decker

Natalie Decker grew up in Eagle River, Wisconsin—a racing legacy town where her family’s track hosted the World Championship Snowmobile Derby and her father was a world champion—and turned that small-town grit into a barrier-breaking career that took her from quitting her first snowmobile race at age five to becoming the first woman to podium in the ARCA Midwest Tour.

EARLY YEARS

Eagle River, Wisconsin isn’t just where Natalie Decker grew up—it’s where motorsports are practically coded into the DNA. Her father owned the local racetrack and won the 1987 World Championship Snowmobile Derby, an event she’ll remind you has been running longer than the Super Bowl. Her dad and his three brothers founded Decker Racing back in 1967, racing professionally through the 1990s. The family legacy wasn’t just impressive—it was inescapable.

Naturally, her parents expected her to follow the family snowmobile tradition. At five years old, they put her on a sled in front of 10,000 people at their Eagle River track, competing against 15 other kids. She made it about ten feet before she stopped. Her dad ran over, asking if the sled had quit. “I quit. I’m done!” she told him. So much for destiny.

But the desire to race—passed down from parents, uncles, and brothers—didn’t quit on her. She just redirected it. While her parents pushed snowmobiles, Decker gravitated toward go-karts and cars. She practiced on the family’s snow-cross track daily after school, honing the reflexes and racecraft that would define her career. By age twelve, she was ready for something bigger.

That’s when she showed up to her first car race at Golden Sands Speedway in Plover, Wisconsin, driving a mod-four stick shift. She walked into the drivers’ meeting wearing her helmet—not for safety, but to hide the fact that she was a twelve-year-old girl about to race against men her father’s age. “I think they could figure it out by my long blonde hair sticking out and I wasn’t even five feet tall with a size three shoe,” she later admitted. She raced anyway.

Growing up in what she calls “God’s country,” Decker had access to a thriving short track racing culture. State Park Speedway in Wausau on Thursday nights. Golden Sands in Plover on Fridays. Marshfield on Saturdays. She raced them all, building a skillset across Wisconsin’s blue-collar racing circuit that would eventually carry her far beyond the Midwest.

OTHER INTERESTS

Decker was born with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a condition she’s lived with alongside her NASCAR dreams. Beyond that, her world has been defined almost entirely by racing. No hobbies, academic accolades, or side pursuits were documented—just an all-consuming focus on getting faster, winning more, and making it to the top levels of stock car racing.

EARLY SUCCESS

Before Decker ever thought about NASCAR, she was already winning. She captured four track championships in go-karts around her native Wisconsin, proving she had the talent to back up the family name. From there, she moved into stock cars, winning the CWSSA Super Stock championship against a field of 35 drivers—a statement performance that showed she could compete with anyone, regardless of age or gender.

In Limited Late Model competition, she grabbed one win and two podium finishes. Then came four Super Late Model victories at tracks like Golden Sands and State Park Speedway, racing with a family-operated team that took her from Wisconsin to Florida by 2015. She also won once in the Triple Crown Super Truck Series and earned Rookie of the Year honors there, plus Sportsman of the Year in the Midwest Truck Tour and Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series in Florida.

In 2013, she completed every lap of the World Series of Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida—a grueling test of endurance and consistency. By the time NASCAR came calling, she’d already proven she could win across multiple divisions and geographies.

NASCAR selected her for the Drive for Diversity combine in both 2013 and 2014. In 2015, she earned a spot with Rev Racing as part of the program, racing at Hickory Motor Speedway—the self-proclaimed “Birthplace of NASCAR Stars.” She turned heads there, rapidly establishing herself as one of the sport’s top up-and-coming talents. The trajectory was undeniable.

Then came the barrier-breaking moments. She became the first woman to podium in the ARCA Midwest Tour, a historic achievement in a regional series known for producing national-level talent. In 2018, racing with Venturini Motorsports in ARCA, she was part of the first race in series history to feature three female drivers on the starting grid—a milestone that quietly rewrote what was possible in stock car racing.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• EARLY CAREER: Four go-kart track championships in Wisconsin[1].
• EARLY CAREER: CWSSA Super Stock champion in a 35-driver field[1].
• EARLY CAREER: One win and two podiums in Limited Late Model competition[1].
• ~2015: Four Super Late Model victories at Wisconsin and Florida tracks with family team[1].
• EARLY CAREER: One win in Triple Crown Super Truck Series[1].
• EARLY CAREER: Sportsman of the Year, Midwest Truck Tour[1].
• EARLY CAREER: Rookie of the Year, Triple Crown Super Truck Series[1].
• EARLY CAREER: NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Rookie of the Year, Florida[1].
• 2013: Completed every lap of the World Series of Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway, Florida[1].
• 2013 & 2014: Selected for NASCAR Drive for Diversity combine[1].
• 2015: Raced with Rev Racing as part of NASCAR Drive for Diversity program[1].
• EARLY CAREER: First female to podium in ARCA Midwest Tour[1][2].
• 2018: Part of first ARCA race to feature three female drivers on the starting grid, racing for Venturini Motorsports[3].

INSPIRATIONS

Decker’s inspiration didn’t come from posters on a bedroom wall or a single defining race on TV. It came from the people around her—her father, a world champion; her uncles and brothers, all racers; and a family business built on speed and competition. The Decker Racing legacy, founded in 1967, created an environment where racing wasn’t a far-off dream—it was the baseline expectation.

Interestingly, despite cutting her teeth on short tracks across Wisconsin, her favorite tracks are the big superspeedways—a preference that hints at where her ambitions have always pointed.

REPUTATION

By the time she was racing with Rev Racing and Venturini Motorsports, Decker had developed a reputation as a rapid riser with serious talent. Media coverage consistently highlighted her family legacy, her ability to break barriers, and her string of achievements across multiple divisions. She was seen as one of the sport’s top up-and-coming stars, someone who turned heads at historically significant venues like Hickory Motor Speedway.

But she’s also been candid about the challenges. “It’s hard being the race car driver,” she said. “And what’s even harder is the business side of it. Going out and finding partners and sponsorship.” As a female driver in a male-dominated sport, she’s dealt with assumptions and social media backlash. “People you’ve never met before, are going to have assumptions about you,” she acknowledged. “You’re going to just have to deal with that.”

Her role in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program and her participation in history-making moments—like that three-woman ARCA race—positioned her as someone actively expanding the sport’s diversity, whether or not that was her primary motivation. She raced to win, and the barriers fell as a byproduct.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Decker has been clear about where she’s headed. “My ultimate goal has been to go race in the Cup series,” she stated. That ambition—to reach NASCAR’s top level—has driven every decision, every sponsorship search, every lap turned on short tracks and superspeedways alike. By 2019, she had moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, positioning herself at the heart of NASCAR country.

The path forward, as always, depends on finding the funding and partnerships to keep racing at the national level. But if her career so far has proven anything, it’s that underestimating the girl from Eagle River, Wisconsin—the one who showed up to her first car race in a helmet to hide her age and gender—is a mistake.

References:

Natalie Decker Inc. – About Us
We Are Motor Driven – Behind The Wheel With Natalie Decker
TMJ4 – Wisconsin Native Natalie Decker Trying to Move Through the Racing Ranks
Arthritis Foundation – Natalie Decker