On Wednesday Morning, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Natalie Decker announced that she has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, therefore barring her from competing in her final scheduled start of the season with Ave Motorsports at WeatherTech Raceway Leguna Seca on December 4 – 6.
Decker contested a total of 13 starts this season for Niece Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, earning the highest finish by a female competitor in NASCAR Truck Series history with her fifth-place finish in the season-opener at Daytona.
It wouldn’t be 2020 with out ending my session like this ? pic.twitter.com/WC5GXf534U
— Natalie Decker (@NatalieRacing) November 18, 2020
In June, Decker was forced to sit out of the NASCAR Truck Series event at Pocono Raceway, after she was hospitalized due to complications from an off season gallbladder surgery.
In addition to her absence from the event at Pocono, Decker was not medically cleared to compete in two other events later in the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, due to having abnormally high blood pressure and an increased heart rate. These are not suspected to be COVID-19 related.
At the time of publishing, Decker has yet to announce her 2021 NASCAR plans.
Decker joins several other notable names in the NASCAR world that have contracted the virus this season, including: Jimmie Johnson, Austin Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Spencer Davis, Dale Jarrett, Red Farmer and Ken Squier. William Byron’s pit crew also missed events at Texas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway because of multiple positive COVID tests.
