Although Natalie Decker has spent most of this season embracing motherhood and made only a single start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the door to a return still sits wide open. That’s because racing runs in her blood, but her family’s motorsport lineage looks nothing like the stock-car dynasties of Chase Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., or Ryan Blaney.
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The Deckers cut their path on ice, not asphalt, rooted in a snowmobile racing heritage that shaped her long before she ever strapped into a stock car. Decker Racing began in 1967 with her father and his three brothers. They competed professionally through the 1990s, and her father, Chuck Decker, claimed the 1987 World Championship.
He later owned the World Championship Snowmobile Derby Racetrack in Eagle River, Wisconsin, at the same venue where Natalie spent her childhood weekends helping during events and marveling at the speed of ice-oval sleds.
In fact, Natalie’s first race also happened on a snowmobile at that very track. The Derby has a longer history than the Super Bowl, and she entered it at just five years old. Every day after school, she practiced on the snow-cross course until race weekend arrived.
Natalie remembered staring at a crowd of roughly 10,000 fans while lining up with nearly 15 other kids, waiting for the green flag to cut them loose. But when the race began, she traveled only about 100 yards before pulling off, removing her helmet, and deciding she was done with snowmobile racing altogether.
Her father sprinted over, fearing something had broken, but she told him she was done. From there, she shifted toward go-karts and later stock cars, launching the trajectory fans now know.
In an interview with We Are Motor Driven, she recalled exactly when NASCAR became the dream. “I knew I wanted to race NASCAR because my dad and I watched it every Sunday, and I was glued to the TV,” she said.
When Natalie accompanied him on a business trip at seven, they stopped by a go-kart track on the drive home. Watching kids race showed her a path toward stock cars that didn’t require a snowmobile. For two years, she begged her father daily for a go-kart, and he finally surprised her with a purple asphalt oval kart for her ninth birthday.
As of late 2025, her 2026 NASCAR plans remain unconfirmed across the national series. However, recent social media hints suggest she and her husband may explore dirt-track racing next season. For now, she continues to put family first after welcoming her first child earlier in 2025.
