After spending the last two seasons in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Natalie Decker will move to the Xfinity Series for the first time. On Friday, Decker announced she has joined RSS Racing for a five-race schedule that begins with her Xfinity début at the Daytona road course on 20 February. She will drive the #23, a car that is fielded by RSS in alliance with Reaume Brothers Racing.
Red Street Records will sponsor the #23, which includes featuring musician Jason Crabb on the hood. CCM Magazine interviewed Decker about the sponsorship and her début, which was published on Thursday.
“First I have to say thank you, thank you to all my fans that support me and show me so much love! I love you all! Thank you to Todd Dibenadetto for connecting Natalie Decker LLC and Red Street Records,” began a statement from Decker on social media. “Thank you Red Street Records for believing in me and wanting to be part of this Journey with me. Thank you RSS and RBR for the warm welcome into the team. Thank you to Bigfoot Philly Cheesesteaks Beef Jerky for supporting my career and I’m excited for our new partnership.
“Our first race is Daytona road course and I couldn’t be any happier, we have Jason Crabb and his new single on the hood of the car. This song is so meaningful to me and the inspiration I get from Jason when I hear this song is unbelievable! Im excited for this journey and I’m so happy I finally get to share it with all of you! “
Decker ran thirteen of twenty-three Truck races for Niece Motorsports in 2020, scoring a fifth in the season opener on the Daytona oval to become the highest-finishing female driver in series history. In August, she finished twentieth on the road course. However, her 2020 campaign was also plagued by health problems that kept her out of the truck; she was hospitalised in June for bile duct complications after having her gallbladder removed, followed by not being cleared to race in October due to high blood pressure. She has also struggled with rheumatoid arthritis since childhood.
The 23-year-old has raced in the Trucks since 2019, a season in which she ran nineteen races, and finished seventh in the 2018 ARCA Menards Series standings with a pole in the opener at Daytona. She has also dabbled in sports cars, winning the Trans-Am Series SGT West class race at Circuit of the Americas last november.
She will also race at Talladega, Nashville, Road America, and Martinsville. She has never made a national series start at Nashville or Road America, but finished finished sixteenth in her lone career Truck race at Talladega and twenty-seventh in her most recent Martinsville start in the series. While she has no Road America starts in NASCAR, the Wisconsin native finished seventh in her only ARCA race there in 2017 and has raced on the road course in Trans-Am.
The #23, previously the #93, serves as RSS Racing’s second car alongside the full-time #39 of owner/driver Ryan Sieg; RBR, a Truck Series team, assumed operational responsibilities for the #23 during the 2020 season. Jason White will pilot the car in the first race on the Daytona oval in his first NASCAR event since 2014. Although the show car in the CCM interview is a Chevrolet, RSS will race with Ford in 2021.
UPDATE: Article has been updated with her four other scheduled races, per her Instagram.
