Written by Adrian Beecher
Las Vegas, NV – For rising driver Natalie Decker, the week of March 3rd is one full of excitement and lots of moving parts. This weekend she will be competing in Vegas in the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series, and then head almost immediately afterward to Sebring International Raceway to take part in the Trans Am Road America Series on Sunday.
“It’s going good.” says Decker of preparation ahead of her “Double-Decker” weekend, “Today (Monday) I went to the shop, got to hang out with my guys for a little bit. Then tomorrow (Tuesday), I’m going to get with my spotter and go over some footage and some video for Vegas. And then I have a driver coach for the Trans Am Series and he always sends me stuff to go over before each track I get to. So I’m also going to do that tomorrow morning before I get to go over video for Vegas. So, I’m studying two tracks this week. But what’s great is with Toyota, I get to go in the simulator this week before I get to Vegas.”
This is only the start to the week, as Natalie will head to Vegas for two practice sessions in the afternoon Thursday, with the first session starting at 5:05 pm EST, kicking off four straight days of seat time for her. Then Friday she will have qualifying at 5:10 pm EST and then the truck race at night, which wont see the green flag until just after 9:00 pm EST in the Stratosphere 200.
After that, she will fly to Sebring, Florida for race 1 of 5 for Decker in her Trans Am.
Once in Sebring, she will have a 9:15 am EST drivers meeting there on Saturday morning. Then she will have time for just one 20-minute practice session in the car from 11:25-11:45am EST.
After a slight break, mixed with various driver obligations, Decker will take to the track for qualifying at 5:20 pm EST.
Sunday will be the race at 3:25 pm, giving Decker a bit of a break from qualifying to race time to catch up on some much needed sleep. It’s a break in the action that Decker attributes to a key part of the plan for success in a busy weekend as she balances preparation for two the two races.
“The hardest part is probably going to be getting enough sleep and rest, but I’m thankful that the race is on Sunday in Sebring so I only have to practice and qualify on Saturday. So If I don’t have enough sleep I can definitely get enough sleep for the race on Sunday.”
Despite the lack of sleep, it’s a necessary endeavor to ensure she soaks in as much as she can from every chance to get behind the wheel.
“The benefits are seat time and pushing myself as hard as I can push myself.” says Decker.
Another benefit for Decker, rolling into this week, is the fact that she got
“So we weren’t going to put it on our schedule, but then things happened and we put it on our schedule. I’m really thankful we did, because its one of the hardest race tracks and what I’ve learned there is going to help me so much at all the other mile and a half’s and I’ll just be that more prepared.” says Decker, “Mile and a half racing is really tough and there a lot of them, so I’m going to have to learn to love them, which think I will. So I’m really excited, I’m really glad we went there and I got to learn as much as I could, cause now in Vegas I’ll have a lot of information I already know.”
Natalie’s busy schedule for the year is just getting started, as she fights to gain as much experience as possible on her journey to chase down her childhood dream of being in the NASCAR Cup Series.
At one point this next month, Decker will even go to Spain to gain some experience fighting for a spot in the new W-Series. But we will have more on that later. For now, it’s off to the Vegas and Sebring this weekend for the “Double-Decker”!
