Natalie Decker Lemke, who became a mother this February, is set to return to the Xfinity Series, according to Fox & Friends. With no official confirmation yet from her team DGM Racing and her No. 92 car sitting 45th in points, Decker will have to qualify on speed to secure a spot and earn an official start.
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However, when Fox News claimed Decker would be the first mother to return to NASCAR after childbirth, a journalist from Athlon Sports set the record straight. She will, in fact, be the seventh woman to race in one of NASCAR’s top three series post-childbirth, though she would be the first to do so within a year of giving birth.
Here are the previous six female drivers who paved the way:
Sara Christian: On June 19, 1949, at Charlotte Speedway, Christian raced as a mother, finishing P14 in a 33-car field. She competed in six of the eight races that season, placing 13th in the final standings.
Ethel Mobley: In NASCAR’s second race of 1949 at the Daytona beach-road course, Mobley drove to P11 out of 28 entries. She also competed later that year at Langhorne Speedway, a one-mile dirt oval.
The claim by @FoxAndFriends of @NatalieRacing to become first mother to return to @NASCAR after having child is false. Here are the facts of the history of mothers in #NASCAR.
A thread… pic.twitter.com/fJLe2CzB41
— Justin Schuoler (@JSchuoler) August 14, 2025
Shawna Robinson: Robinson became the first woman to race both before and after childbirth. After her final NASCAR Xfinity Series start at Atlanta in 1995, she had two children, then returned to ARCA competition in 1999 and to Xfinity in 2001 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Alli Owens: Owens made 32 ARCA Racing starts, her last in 2010, before attempting to qualify for the NASCAR Truck Series race at Daytona in 2011. Following a DNQ, she stepped away to have the first of her two children, later making her lone Xfinity start at Richmond Raceway.
Jessica Friesen: The most recent mother to race in NASCAR’s top three series, Friesen debuted in the Truck Series at Knoxville in 2021. She added a second start in 2022, years after the birth of her only son.
Kelly Sutton: Sutton competed in the NASCAR Truck Series from 2003 to 2007, earning a career-best 15th at Charlotte. She was the first known racer, male or female, to compete while diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Outside the top three series, Sarah Burgess made history in ARCA competition, becoming the first mother to race alongside her daughter, Bridget Burgess, in the ARCA West event at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022.
