Natalie Decker was set to compete in the Focused Health 250 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at EchoPark Speedway in a few weeks, and she had a sponsor lined up for the event to support her efforts with Joey Gase Motorsports.
However, on Friday, that sponsor, Venturi Bold Brew, chose to withdraw its support of Decker just weeks ahead of the race.
Venturi Bold Brew confirmed its decision to step away as a sponsor of Decker via an official statement.
“Effective immediately, Venturi Bold Brew is withdrawing from the O’Reilly Cup Series Focus Health 250 in Atlanta and ending its partnership with Natalie Decker. Her meet and greet at Redstone Market & Butcher in Athens, GA is also cancelled,” the company explained.
The statement from Venturi Bold Brew continued, “To the fans and media who followed along: thank you, and we are sorry for any disappointment this news may bring. We wish Natalie the very best on the road ahead.”
While the company confirmed its departure as a primary sponsor for Decker and the No. 35 Joey Gase Motorsports team for the upcoming event at EchoPark Speedway, no clarity has been provided on what led to the separation just weeks before the event.
Decker, 29, has competed in 16 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series events since the 2021 season, and has a career-best finish of 18th, which she achieved in the summer 2024 event at Daytona International Speedway.
While Decker has served as the punchline of a lot of jokes amongst fans on social media in recent seasons, the native of Eagle River, WI, holds the record for the best-ever finish for a female competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Decker set the historic mark with a fifth-place result at Daytona International Speedway in 2020.
Prior to her move to NASCAR, Decker was the 2013 ARCA Midwest Tour Rookie of the Year, and in 2021, she took home the ProAm Challenge championship in the Trans Am Series SGT Class.
One Response
All the hate towards female drivers in nascar is sad and very bad for sport, nascar already has a problem with very few female drivers in top 3 series and none full time, for some reason most big nascar teams don’t hire women full time as drivers, last one in cup series was danica patrick, nascar claims to be inclusive but has had this problem with lack of females as drivers for decades and nobody in top positions in nascar have changed it nor have reporters like self had many stories on it, sad that nascar has an anti women problem that is a fact, look at stats.