Just because her NASCAR schedule is a bit lighter than she probably expected, that isn’t stopping Wisconsin’s Natalie Decker from expanding her racing palette from outside the walls of NASCAR.
Announced on Tuesday, Decker will again team up with Ave Motorsports, making her Watkins Glen debut during Round 9 of the Trans Am Championship next month. It’ll mark her second start of the year in the R8, piloting the entry to a pole, and a second-place finish at the Charlotte Roval earlier this year.
“Can’t wait to get back to racing with Natalie,” said Tony Ave, owner of Ave Motorsports. “We had a great test at VIR, and our last SGT outing saw her fighting for the pole and race win at Charlotte.”
The 24-year-old teased her social media following about the start last week. She’ll pilot an Audi R8 entry for the second time this year,
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSsRW_Cs4xf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
“Racing with Ave Motorsports in the Trans Am Series is amazing, and I continually am learning from the best,” Decker said. “This will be my first time at Watkins Glen, and I have been preparing for the race by iRacing, watching videos, and we did a test day at VIR (Virginia International Raceway).
Decker’s longtime partner, N29, will support the effort in addition to WiscLift, a drone-based dynamic networking company. Her Audi R8 entry will also sport a brand new livery, to be revealed before her start in September. Project Dragonfly will also join the effort.
“My partner N29 has introduced me to the most amazing company that we just had to let everyone know about,” explained Decker. “WiscLift is in my hometown’s backyard, and they are involved with my high school Northland Pines! When your internet goes down, no worries if you have WiscLift- you will be connected! It’s so cool!”
Decker will attack the 11-turn, 3.4-mile configuration of the Glen, a layout that NASCAR’s top three series haven’t opted to race in recent years, with many fans protesting for the change in recent years.
The Wisconsin driver has been racing part-time in the Xfinity Series RSS in a No. 23 entry managed by Reaume Brothers Racing. Decker finished a best of 24th at Talladega, in just her second career Xfinity Series race.
According to her website, Decker’s next, and what would be her last scheduled race with the team, is Martinsville on October 30th.
Fans can catch Decker on-track at Watkins Glen during the September 9-12 weekend.
