Decker sisters, cousin try to turn Martinsville into family event

Posted by Wayne G. Barber




Natalie and Claire Decker will each be trying to make their series' debut. Paige started at the track in the fall of 2015, finishing 30th.
The Deckers are trying to turn Saturday's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race into a family affair.
Sisters Paige and Claire Decker and their cousin Natalie will each attempt to qualify for Saturday's Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway, according to NASCAR.

This week's NASCAR schedule begins with Truck Series practice at 10 a.m. ET Friday. Trucks qualifying starts at 11:15 a.m. ET on Saturday, with the race about 2:30 p.m. ET that day. Sprint Cup's STP 500 will run about 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Paige Decker, 23, will drive the No. 74 entry of Mike Harmon Racing, the same entry in which she finished 30th at the 2015 fall race at the track. An alum of the NASCAR Driver for Diversity program, she became the first female to win the Super Late Tundra Feature Round Four at Golden Sands Speedway in 2013.
Claire Decker, 21, will drive the No. 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing Chevrolet. While she has not made a NASCAR start, she has competed in the Super Late Model ARCA Midwest Tour Series and won the "Trickle 99" Super Late Model race honoring fellow Wisconsin racer Dick Trickle. Cobb said via social media that she will be at Martinsville as an owner and mentor, and will return to racing later this season.
"I understand I am facing an uphill battle and am looking forward to my first time in a truck," Claire Decker said, according to a NASCAR release. "Of course I want to make this race against a very competitive field but the worst case scenario is that I gain a lot of experience, meet new fans and showcase my sponsors to a larger audience."
Natalie Decker, 17, also a former Drive for Diversity program competitor, will drive the No. 14 NTS Motorsports entry. She is a competitor in the Kulwicki Driver Development Program established by the family of the late Cup champion Alan Kulwicki.
"I'm excited but nervous to make my first laps in the No. 14 Chevrolet," Natalie Decker said. "I hope to learn a lot on and off track. I am super thankful for this opportunity to be able to show my abilities and join an elite class of drivers."The most female drivers to start in a NASCAR national series race is four — a mark set at Martinsville on Oct. 23, 2010, when Jennifer Jo Cobb, Amber Cope, Angela Cope and Johanna Long all made the field for the race. There have been several instances of three female drivers competing in a race, with the most recent coming on Oct. 20, 2012, in the Xfinity Series race at Kansas with Cobb, Long and Danica Patrick