Vrooom! Vrooom! NASCAR driver Natalie Decker Shifts Into Top Gear for Pets and Other Causes
Natalie Decker at age 23 is an up and coming NASCAR driver competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Natalie began her racing career in Go-Karts at the age of nine, and has caught on fast with wins in every respective class along the way. She now has her sights set on NASCAR’S top three series. Natalie is one of a handful of women in NASCAR and when combined with her enormous fan following, she has quickly become an influencer on all forms of social media."
Natalie shares her journey from racing snowmobiles to making history as the first female driver to finish in the top five in the NASCAR Truck Series. She discusses her passion for racing and her strong connection to pets, introducing her adorable four-legged companions. Listen in to discover how Natalie is giving back through her involvement with the Arthritis foundation and her partnership with some distinguished names in the music industry. Join us for a fascinating conversation with this rising star in NASCAR and learn how she's making a positive impact both on and off the race track.
"And all the cats got scared from the noise and ran back, except for this little white one. It likes racing. So that's why I picked out the cat."
— Natalie Decker
BIO:
From a young age, Natalie Decker set her goals high in the motorsports industry. Now, at age 22, the Wisconsin native is already well on her way towards becoming one of the top young drivers in the NASCAR scene.
Victories and a strong fan base have been a part of Decker’s life and career since she first got behind the wheel of a go-kart. In the years since, she has won races and championships, all leading to being a part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program and on her way into the top levels of the sport.
It all started as a young racer, where she won four track championships around her native Wisconsin in go-karts. From there, it was a move into full-sized stock cars. She was the CWSSA Super Stock champion out of a talented field of 35 drivers. Success continued in the Limited Late Model division, where she won one race and had two podium finishes.
Another step up the racing ladder led her to becoming the Sportsman of the Year in the Midwest Truck Tour and one win and the Rookie of the Year crown in the Triple Crown Super Truck Series.
It was Decker’s move into the competitive Late Model ranks that really began her rapid rise onto the lists of top up-and-coming racing stars. She completed in every lap of the World Series of Stock Car Racing at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway in 2013. Her on-track success led her to being selected to the 2013 and 2014 NASCAR Rev Racing Drive for Diversity combine.
At State Park Speedway in Wisconsin, Decker had 10 fast times and seven feature races in 2014, leading her to the track championship. She was also the Rookie of the Year and finished fourth in overall points in the State Park Super Late Model division.
She was also a winner in the Super Late Model division at Wisconsin’s Golden Sands Speedway and on the competitive TUNDRA Super Late Model series in the upper Midwest in 2014 as well.
Top-level management at NASCAR selected Decker to be a part of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program with proven race-winning team Rev Racing in 2015. She battled week in and week out against the top short track racers in the country at “The Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars,” Hickory Motor Speedway. Decker turned heads at Hickory and beyond with the Rev Racing team and also saw plenty of success with her family-operated Super Late Model tracks from Wisconsin to Florida. That success came in the form of four Super Late Model victories between Golden Sands and State Park Speedways.
Adding to her history of breaking records, Decker became the first female racer to ever score a podium finish in the ARCA Midwest Tour. Her success in the state of Florida through the season also earned Decker the prestigious title of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Rookie of the Year in the Sunshine State.
In 2016/2017, Decker has her sights set on continuing her progression up the NASCAR racing ladder as she sets her sights on achieving more victories and accolades on short tracks across America.
In 2018 Decker made Pole Position and finished 5th in the ARCA series at Daytona International Speedway. She finished 7th overall in the ARCA Series Point Standings.
She made her road course debut at Road America with AVE Motorsports in the Trans Am Series.
For the 2019 race season Natalie signs with DGR-Crosley in the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series. Also after her success in 2018, AVE Motorsports brought her back for 5 more Trans Am Races in 2019.
Transcript:
Arden Moore [00:00:00]:
Welcome to the Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio. I'm your host, Arden Moore. Doggies and kitties, start your engines where cats would be purr. Hey, I'm very excited to welcome our special guest today. She knows her way around a NASCAR racetrack, and she knows how to steer in the right direction to promote pets. That's a pretty nice combination, wouldn't you guys say? Last year, she made history. I think it's probably better to be called history by becoming the first female driver to place in the top five in the top three tier NASCAR race at Daytona on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2020. Hey, she's also the highest finishing female in the NASCAR Truck series.
Arden Moore [00:00:50]:
Please give pause and applause to the phenomenal NASCAR driver, Natalie Decker. Welcome to the show, Natalie.
Natalie Decker [00:00:59]:
Thank you so much for having me.
Arden Moore [00:01:01]:
Oh, man, we got lot to cover. Girl, you made your debut this year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. She's going to be on the show here, guys, to talk a lot about racing and pets, but we got to pay for the show by taking a commercial break. So everybody stick it in the gear idol. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the Oh Behave show on Pet Life Radio. I'm your host, Arden Moore. Our special guest today is NASCAR driver Natalie Decker, number 23.
Arden Moore [00:02:10]:
Keep that number in mind. She is kicking off the 2021 season in high gear. You got to let me know a little bit. We have something in common besides pets. Do you want to know what that is, Natalie?
Natalie Decker [00:02:22]:
What is that?
Arden Moore [00:02:23]:
She's like, I don't know this lady. She's cray cray. Here's the deal. You were born, I think, in 1997. Is that right?
Natalie Decker [00:02:31]:
Yes. Correct.
Arden Moore [00:02:32]:
Okay. Now, this really makes me feel old. Well, that was the last year I was an assistant sports editor at the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, in charge of auto racing, especially the truck series at homestead.
Natalie Decker [00:02:48]:
Wow. That's so cool. What a small. Really? Yeah.
Arden Moore [00:02:52]:
Yeah. You weren't even on the radar then. You weren't on a track. You were on a womb.
Natalie Decker [00:02:58]:
Exactly.
Arden Moore [00:02:59]:
But I love covering the NASCAR, especially a truck series. I don't know. So, big question. What got you into racing? And then the trucks, and then we'll get into the stock cars. But let's talk about that, because I thought that was kind of an interesting year, right? Yeah.
Natalie Decker [00:03:16]:
Well, how I got started in racing is my dad and his three other brothers and my grandparents, they raced snowmobiles, they raced dirt bikes, they raced dirt cars. But the main thing was snowmobile racing. And my dad in my hometown, Eagle, River, Wisconsin. Eagle River, Wisconsin. Yes. He had a snowmobile track. He recently sold it a couple of years ago. But I grew up around this snowmobile track, and I fell in love with the motorsports industry.
Natalie Decker [00:03:44]:
Just seeing my dad work at the track, seeing my mom there, being a part of it, meeting the drivers, helping out. And then my dad always had the race on, the NASCAR race on Sundays on our tv, and we made a big deal about it. My mom would make snacks, and we would hang out, and it was just such a good time. And I started to really then fall in love with the sport of NASCAR.
Arden Moore [00:04:05]:
Wow.
Natalie Decker [00:04:05]:
And I didn't know how I could get into the sport, but I knew I wanted to. And my dad took me on a business trip once with him. It was just a day trip, a couple hours away from our house. And after all his meetings were done, on our way home, we got to stop at a go kart track. We saw the lights were on, so we stopped in to watch some racing before we head all the way home. And I fell in love with go kart racing. I was like, this is how I can get into NASCAR. This is my start.
Natalie Decker [00:04:32]:
I was like, dad, I want a go kart. I want to go go kart racing. He told me I was crazy, and he said, he's like, we're not going to do it. You're not going to do it. You're not going to like it. It took a couple of years of convincing him, but he finally got me a go cart for my 9th birthday.
Arden Moore [00:04:47]:
Wow. Nine years old. That's pretty good. So how did you do?
Natalie Decker [00:04:51]:
So, we raced go carts for about three years, and we won four track championships in the three years of racing my go kart. So my dad told me I needed to. If NASCAR was my dream, we had to start racing stock cars. Or if I didn't want to go that route and I wanted to stay in go carts, we were going to go, like, the indie route or do some road course.
Arden Moore [00:05:11]:
Well, you're nine years old. How long were your legs? Could you even.
Natalie Decker [00:05:14]:
I was itty bitty. I probably looked like I was five, but I was nine. I promise.
Arden Moore [00:05:20]:
Okay. All right. Yeah. Okay, cool. I got it. Just tell them you have a tall racing voice. That's all you need to say, right?
Natalie Decker [00:05:26]:
We're all the same size when we're on the racetrack.
Arden Moore [00:05:29]:
Yeah. I mean, you got to love your know, isn't it nice that your parents said they'll help you with your dream? Because it's not easy cracking into NASCAR, especially being a woman.
Natalie Decker [00:05:40]:
Exactly. I really believe I wouldn't be where I am today if my parents didn't back me 100%. They sacrificed so much to make my dreams come true, and they backed me 100% the whole time. And they're still helping me to this day. Traveling around in the motorhome, coming to every single race, being part of my business and helping me grow every single day. And it's just so much fun because it feels good to have that support from my parents. And it's also really nice to be able to work with them and have them help me and help me excel in the sport.
Arden Moore [00:06:15]:
Now you're talking. I think your schedule, this will air after your race, but you got Talladego on the 24 April, and then you're going to Nashville on June 19. Did I get that right?
Natalie Decker [00:06:26]:
Correct. Yes.
Arden Moore [00:06:27]:
Doing my homework. I'm excited because you're my first NASCAR driver on the show and the show has been on the air since 2007. Okay. You were ten. I knew you were going to be on our radar. I was just waiting for you. And we're the longest running pet podcast show on the planet.
Natalie Decker [00:06:44]:
Wow, that's awesome.
Arden Moore [00:06:47]:
Kudos to my producer, Mark winner. And we've got over half a million listeners. And I know after this show we're probably going to double that because of you. Party on. So, with your parents, that's awesome. But I need to have you introduce your four leggers that are major supporters of you, and they don't care about checkered flags. They care about you. Yes.
Natalie Decker [00:07:11]:
Oh, my goodness. I have so many amazing stories about all of our pets. Well, I'll introduce all of them first.
Arden Moore [00:07:17]:
Okay.
Natalie Decker [00:07:18]:
We have cash monkey. We call him Cash monkey, but his name is Cash.
Arden Moore [00:07:22]:
I saw cash in a minute, but describe him for us, the folks that are tuning in right now.
Natalie Decker [00:07:27]:
If he was a person, he would be a basketball player. He's got long, long legs and he's very skinny. He is tan color, and he's a hound mix. We don't know exactly what he is, but he runs like a greyhound, so he might have a little greyhound in him.
Arden Moore [00:07:43]:
How old do you think he is?
Natalie Decker [00:07:45]:
He's about two years old.
Arden Moore [00:07:47]:
Okay. All right.
Natalie Decker [00:07:48]:
Yes. And then we have Hoosier and Camber, and they're beagles. And one of them is an all white beagle.
Arden Moore [00:07:54]:
Oh, that's interesting.
Natalie Decker [00:07:55]:
And then the other beagle, Hoosier, he has all the colors in them. We named Hoosier after the tire that we raced. So Hoosier is a brand of tire. You got, like, goodyear Hoosier. So my dad named Hoosier my mom. We were at a racetrack, and our other beagle that we had, his name was eagies. Don't ask how it got from that. It started with eagle, and it went to bee geese.
Natalie Decker [00:08:18]:
Long story. So then my mom was so sad because he passed away. He was so, so old. He had an amazing life, though, because he never ran away, because we never had more than one beagle. He didn't have to be on a leash. It was awesome.
Arden Moore [00:08:32]:
That's really unusual for a beagle, because you go, come here, Hoosier. And they're like, smell you later. Got a scent. Got to go.
Natalie Decker [00:08:40]:
That's how Hoosier is. So my mom got Hoosier. She surprised my dad at a racetrack. He was so mad. Take that back. We have too many dogs. We don't need another one. He was so mad.
Natalie Decker [00:08:52]:
But then 10 minutes later, he was in love, and he's like, we're only keeping it if I get to name it. My mom's like, well, we already bought the dog. We're keeping the dog. So he named him Hoosier after the tires we raced. And then about three years later, we got camber. So, Camber, it took us a long time. He went four months without a name. We called him baby for four months because he was a little baby.
Natalie Decker [00:09:16]:
So, in your car, in the front tires, you have caster and camber, and it's how the angle of the tires are. So, like, if you ever riding down the highway and you see a car with the front wheels, like, turned in at a weird angle, when people do that, that's like, caster and camber. So we were confused. We didn't know if we wanted to name them Caster or if we wanted to name them camber.
Arden Moore [00:09:41]:
Just can't wait. If you ever decide to have kids, are they going to be named gear shift in third drive? I mean, lugnut? Oh, that would be. Oh, your kid lug nut. Okay, that's fun. But you also have a kitty.
Natalie Decker [00:09:57]:
Okay, so the story about the cat. Best story in the whole world.
Arden Moore [00:10:01]:
All right.
Natalie Decker [00:10:01]:
How we got the cat. I was racing go carts. I was ten years old, and it was the last race of the season, and I had to win the race to win the championship.
Arden Moore [00:10:12]:
A lot on the line.
Natalie Decker [00:10:13]:
Yeah, there was a family there who brought a whole truck bed of kittens. There was probably 25 kittens, and they were just giving them away because their kitty had kittens, and they wanted to let all of the friends at the racetrack have first pick of their kittens. And I was like, dad, can I please have a cat? I really, really want a cat. And he's like, you're too young. You won't feed it. You won't change the litter. No, you're not getting the cat. I was like, please, dad, I'm ten years old.
Natalie Decker [00:10:42]:
I can take care of a cat. And he's like, I'll make a deal with you. If you win the race tonight, you can pick out a cat. And we won the race. There was a cat on the line. I had to win. I didn't care about the championship. I wanted the cat.
Arden Moore [00:10:57]:
Oh, my gosh. What was the markings of your kitten you got when you won the race?
Natalie Decker [00:11:00]:
All white.
Arden Moore [00:11:01]:
All white.
Natalie Decker [00:11:03]:
No markings on them. Just pure white. And why I picked him out of the other 25 kittens that were there is they were in the bed of the truck. So I was sitting in the bed of the truck in my race suit, petting all of them, trying to figure out which one I wanted. And all the go carts in the area, the parking lot we were in, they went by really fast to go line up for their race. And all the cats got scared from the noise and ran back, except for this little white one. It likes racing. So that's why I picked out the cat.
Natalie Decker [00:11:35]:
So we got the cat, we went home, we went to the vet, get all its shots, check. Get him. And then they told us, they're like, I'm so sorry to tell you, but your cat's deaf.
Arden Moore [00:11:48]:
Well, all white. I was thinking that was letting and probably had blue eyes.
Natalie Decker [00:11:52]:
Yes.
Arden Moore [00:11:54]:
Sorry.
Natalie Decker [00:11:55]:
So I was crying at the vet. Mom, my cat doesn't like race cars. It's just deaf. I was so upset.
Arden Moore [00:12:05]:
Oh, my gosh. So you still have the same cat?
Natalie Decker [00:12:08]:
Yeah, she's still around. She's very old.
Arden Moore [00:12:11]:
Oh, my gosh. And this is the cat. Come on. This is a cool name for somebody that's a professional race car driver. What is the name of this white cat?
Natalie Decker [00:12:19]:
Yeah, well, I named her NASCAR because I thought she liked race cars, and then she turned out to be deaf. So I was debating to change her name, but couldn't. No, NASCAR is her name.
Arden Moore [00:12:31]:
So she's the stately senior of your pet pack, right?
Natalie Decker [00:12:35]:
Oh, yeah. We've had her the longest, and she runs the motorhome. She's in charge of everything. She is the boss.
Arden Moore [00:12:42]:
Hey, that's all right. Hey, also, I kept hearing you say we're taking our pets to the vet. We've got to do this. So what I really like is the fact that you're paying attention to your pets health needs, even as a youngster. And our show is sponsored by someone that you use their products on. You want to talk about your involvement with petking brands?
Natalie Decker [00:13:02]:
Yes. Pet King brands. Zymox. So how we got our relationship started is I did, like, an interview type thing for a magazine years back about Hoosier and Canberra, because they travel with my parents and they come to all my races, and they know when they're going to the racetrack. So I did this really fun interview about the dogs, vehicles that travel around, and Zymox saw the interview and everything that I did, and then a couple months later, I adopted cash. So they reached out to my boyfriend, Derek, because he handles all of the.
Arden Moore [00:13:39]:
Yes. And we thank Derek. He got us all connected. Thank you, Derek.
Natalie Decker [00:13:42]:
Derek's the man. He handles everything. You know, Derek. Okay. So they got a hold of Derek, and they were very interested in partnering up with cash Monkey and I, and it just happened so perfectly. And the really crazy part is I had a black lab. His name was Bear, and I had him since I was three or four years old. We recently just had to put him down.
Natalie Decker [00:14:05]:
He was 18 years old when we put him.
Arden Moore [00:14:07]:
That is awesome.
Natalie Decker [00:14:08]:
Yes.
Arden Moore [00:14:09]:
Was his middle name Methuselah?
Natalie Decker [00:14:13]:
He had the best life. He got to go swimming in our lake, and he would go underwater to dive for rocks, so he'd always get ear infections, and my mom would take care of his ears. And we used.
Arden Moore [00:14:25]:
Good, good. Yeah.
Natalie Decker [00:14:27]:
So we were using Zymox before we even knew everyone at Zymox, and now we feel like one big family.
Arden Moore [00:14:35]:
Well, also, you have some funny YouTube channel videos. It's you and Derek and the dogs and all that. So don't you think it's kind of nice? I mean, you're in a stock car, you're in a truck racing for NASCAR, but you let your fans get to know a little bit more about you. Right, Natalie?
Natalie Decker [00:14:52]:
Yeah. I really think that's important because they only get to see so much through tv or through what the sport of NASCAR is showing of their athletes. And I think it's really important to show everyone that I'm just, like, know I'm a normal person. I have to go grocery shopping. I have to clean my house. I have to take my dog to the vet. I have to do all the normal things. So I really like showing that through YouTube videos.
Natalie Decker [00:15:16]:
And we recently started streaming on Twitch.
Arden Moore [00:15:19]:
And how do people find you? I know the main site is nataliedeckerinc.com. But how about Twitch and YouTube?
Natalie Decker [00:15:27]:
All the links to all my social media accounts are on my website, nataliedeckerinc.com. So if you go to the website, every social account is linked there and it will instantly take you to my instagram, my twitter, my twitch account, my YouTube channel. And we sell merchandise on the website. We have a couple new shirts coming out where it has Zymox on the back.
Arden Moore [00:15:49]:
Wow, nice. I'll have to get one of those. I'll get one of those. Yeah, I'll advertise for you. Hey, speaking of advertising, we do have to break for a quick commercial. And when we come back, we're going to talk about how Natalie Decker gives back. And I can't believe you're here on the show. I really enjoy you.
Arden Moore [00:16:06]:
You're awesome, you know that? So everybody just stay idle room broom. We'll be right back after this commercial break. Welcome back to the Obey show on Pet Life Radio. I'm your host, Arden Moore. I got to tell you, I've been doing this show since seven when you were just ten years old. And you by far have such great energy and great passion. You are ranking in my top five as favorite guest all time. And that includes Betty White.
Natalie Decker [00:17:11]:
Yay. I feel special. You started your show the year that I won the championship and got my cat.
Arden Moore [00:17:21]:
What can I tell you? Can I tell you, life is great. Hey, let's talk a little bit about some ways that you do give back. And you're driving a major speeding thing of steel. And yet you were born with arthritis, right?
Natalie Decker [00:17:35]:
Yes. So I was born with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. And that's an autoimmune disease and I was born with it. They didn't diagnose me until I was age of two. And for about ten years I was on a drug called methyltrexate.
Arden Moore [00:17:50]:
Oh, that's pretty nasty. Very serious, right?
Natalie Decker [00:17:52]:
So I have struggled with this my whole life. I have had to live with it my whole life. There's no cure for it, so you can only go into remission, but it can always come back. And it recently came back when I was 1617 years old, right as I was starting to get into the ARcA series in NASCAR. And I really knew I needed to share my story because there's so many people that know not just arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, but an autoimmune disease. And there's so many that go along with it and there's so many struggles with it. So I really wanted to share my story to inspire others to still go for their dreams and work hard, push yourself, and don't back talk about what.
Arden Moore [00:18:36]:
You'Re doing with the Arthritis foundation with your theme. I love this. It's perfect. What's your theme called?
Natalie Decker [00:18:41]:
Yeah, so we recently just made a t shirt for last month because it was autoimmune disease awareness month, and we wanted to raise the money for the Arthritis foundation. And there was a skeleton on the t shirt holding my helmet and said, rheumatoid arthritis won't slow me down because we race cars here, we go fast. And it was so amazing. So 100% of the proceeds of the t shirts and sweatshirts, we made koozies. All of that's going to the Arthritis foundation, but that's nice. As soon as we made the announcement and let everyone know my story, we did a big race. And that was in Miami. Homestead.
Arden Moore [00:19:19]:
Oh, yes, I know. Homestead.
Natalie Decker [00:19:21]:
Yeah. With the Arthritis foundation on the truck, there was people that were donating, and when they donated, they got to put their name on the car or on the truck, and it was really special. We raised $17,000, over $17,000 for the Arthritis foundation.
Arden Moore [00:19:38]:
Good.
Natalie Decker [00:19:40]:
We keep doing fundraisers for them because they do so many amazing things, especially for kids.
Arden Moore [00:19:46]:
Oh, yeah. Now, I want people to know that you have raced NASCAR in the truck Series and stock cars. So, for the average Joe, what's the difference? What's the challenge? Or just to give people an idea between getting behind the wheel of a truck versus a stock car?
Natalie Decker [00:20:03]:
So the bodies are a lot different. The truck looks know a normal truck body, and then the car is exactly what you would think of a stock car looks like. And the biggest difference is, especially on the super speedways and the big tracks, the trucks make a bigger hole in the air, because if you think of, like, a boat going through the water with the wake coming around the boat, the water going around the boat. The car and the truck do the same thing, but with air. When they're going on the track and going through the air, the air comes around the truck, kind of like a wake does with a boat, and trucks punch a bigger wake with the air. And that was something I really had to get used to, especially with the super speedways like Talladega. There's so much more air getting pushed, so you have a bigger draft and that you can suck up to another truck faster because a bigger hole is getting pushed through the air. So it's a lot to do with aerodynamics and the way the body is shaped, but overall, it's a race car.
Natalie Decker [00:21:07]:
So, I mean, you drive them very similar.
Arden Moore [00:21:09]:
And average speed on a straightaway versus a curve on a super speedway.
Natalie Decker [00:21:14]:
Well, every track is different because of sizing, but I would say, on average, we're 100 and 6170. But the fastest I ever went was.
Arden Moore [00:21:24]:
Okay, you know what my next question was?
Natalie Decker [00:21:26]:
Good. So, the fastest we ever went was at Daytona road course, and it was called a ta car. It was a Corvette, and we went a little over 200 miles an hour.
Arden Moore [00:21:38]:
How'd you feel? Come on.
Natalie Decker [00:21:40]:
It was so much fun. I remember getting to the point where I was about to reach that speed. The whole car was shaking. The windshield was getting, like, pushed in and shaking. It was crazy. You could feel it. It was fast.
Arden Moore [00:21:54]:
Well, all right, so 200 miles an hour. Okay, now, I think you said you guys live in North Carolina right now, right?
Natalie Decker [00:22:00]:
Yes.
Arden Moore [00:22:01]:
Okay, so you have to go to the grocery store, and you're stuck behind somebody going really slow, and you're a race car driver. How do you handle it? Well, remember, this is a family show.
Natalie Decker [00:22:13]:
Patience. Patience. You know what's really crazy is I don't drive like a race car driver on the road. Very.
Arden Moore [00:22:22]:
I wouldn't think you would. No.
Natalie Decker [00:22:23]:
Yeah. I actually feel a lot safer on the racetrack than I do on the highway.
Arden Moore [00:22:27]:
Really? And why is that?
Natalie Decker [00:22:29]:
Well, it's a controlled environment. We're all going the same direction.
Arden Moore [00:22:33]:
Nobody's texting.
Natalie Decker [00:22:34]:
No one's texting? Correct. No one's texting. Everyone's focused on what they need to do. So mistakes do get made because we're trying to push ourselves 110% and the vehicle 110%, so mistakes can happen. But we also have all the protective gear on. Everything's so safe. And on the highway, there's way more accidents that happen on the highway than happen on the racetrack.
Arden Moore [00:23:01]:
Wow. That's true. Now, have you ever gotten pulled over for speeding?
Natalie Decker [00:23:06]:
Okay, so I've never been pulled over.
Arden Moore [00:23:08]:
Oh, yeah.
Natalie Decker [00:23:09]:
You're like, see you later, knock on wood. But my mom. Okay, so I was testing my race car in wisconsin when I was 16 years old. I had a test day. It was Friday. Okay, it was a Saturday, but I had to take Friday off to go test. And Saturday was prom night, and I test all day. I was 3 hours away from where our prom was being held, and I told my mom, all right, we were done practicing.
Natalie Decker [00:23:36]:
We had 2 hours to get home, and we were 3 hours away. There was 2 hours until prom was starting.
Arden Moore [00:23:41]:
Okay.
Natalie Decker [00:23:41]:
And I told my mom, drive as fast as you can. We got to get home. We have to get home. And not even 10 minutes into our trip, we got pulled over. And the cop that pulled us over was a big fan of my dad because he raced snowmobiles.
Arden Moore [00:23:54]:
Oh, aren't you fortunate.
Natalie Decker [00:23:56]:
He still gave my mom the ticket.
Arden Moore [00:23:58]:
That's all right. Well, that's good, though. I always wondered about that. What kind of car do you drive around your neighborhood, your house?
Natalie Decker [00:24:07]:
We have a truck. A chevy truck.
Arden Moore [00:24:10]:
Okay. I just think it'd be so cool to have you in a chevy truck and have somebody, guy next to you trying to gun their engine. You're like, never mind. Too easy. So let's talk about before we wrap things up. I love that your car number is 23. Let's talk about rascoe flax, country music star jay demarcus. And you got a gospel artist, jason crab.
Arden Moore [00:24:31]:
And together I saw a picture of one sweet vehicle. Tell us about your connection.
Natalie Decker [00:24:37]:
Yeah, it was so amazing. I was in the off season a little bit before christmas time, just trying to figure out how I was going to race in 2021. After Covid and everything changing and sponsors not being allowed to be at the track, it was really difficult to find sponsorship and funding to be able to go racing. And I just remember every day I was praying and saying, there is a path for me. Something's going to happen. I'm just waiting and waiting. I was doing everything I could, but I knew that everything would align. And I went home for christmas, and I met someone who knew jay Demarcus.
Natalie Decker [00:25:16]:
So now it was a mutual friend, and we met, and like, 10 minutes later, I was getting introduced to Jay.
Arden Moore [00:25:23]:
Wow, that's pretty cool. Rascoe flax. Man, that's a great group.
Natalie Decker [00:25:26]:
It was crazy. And then, like, two weeks later, I was on a Zoom call with his record label company that he owns, which is Red street records, and their artist, Jason Crab. And then it just all came together so perfectly, and it was so amazing.
Arden Moore [00:25:44]:
Tell them about the hood of your Chevy. Number 23. Your Chevrolet. Tell us what was on the hood.
Natalie Decker [00:25:49]:
Yeah, so Jason's face was on the hood and his single, just as I am. And it's so wonderful. And they got to come to Daytona and be there, be a part of the race, and it was so magical. There's such amazing people.
Arden Moore [00:26:04]:
Well, I'm going to share for our listeners a quote that Jade DeMarcus said about you, natalie Decker. And I love this. Natalie is a bright light in racing. She's on the cutting edge of motorsports and the racing industry. We consider ourselves on the cutting edge of the recording industry. So it's a partnership made in heaven. That's pretty sweet, right?
Natalie Decker [00:26:28]:
Yes. I love them so much. I'm so thankful that we got to meet and all this got to happen because it just feels like it's supposed to happen and I really feel like we're all family now and it's just been so wonderful. And we have Talladega. That's our next race. They'll be on the car as well. Nashville. And that's their home.
Arden Moore [00:26:51]:
Oh, yeah.
Natalie Decker [00:26:51]:
That's going to be easy.
Arden Moore [00:26:53]:
Wonder who the Nashville fans will be rooting for. I think it's you.
Natalie Decker [00:26:57]:
Yes.
Arden Moore [00:26:58]:
So before we let you go, is there anything I've missed about you that I should have covered? I mean, as far as what's coming up for NASCAR and anything you want to say about your sweet pets, we.
Natalie Decker [00:27:11]:
Really covered it all. This was so much fun. Thank you for having me. I wish I had all my pets here to show you, but I only have cash. But they all say hi.
Arden Moore [00:27:21]:
All right. Hey, guys. We've been speaking with Natalie Decker. She is an amazing rising star in NASCAR. Check her out. I'm go to nataliedeckerinc.com. From there, she launches you to everything that she's doing on the track and off the track for pets to help people that have autoimmune diseases, for arthritis. She packs a lot in a day.
Arden Moore [00:27:44]:
And as I said, she has been one of my all time favorite guests. And so I just want to give you a big pause and applause. Natalie Decker, thank you so much.
Natalie Decker [00:27:55]:
This is so wonderful. Thank you.
Arden Moore [00:27:57]:
Hey, everybody, I also want to do a shout out to behave. My producer, Mark Winter. He's the wizard of Paws. He created Pet Life Radio, the network, in 2007 when our guest here was just ten. And it is the number one pet radio network on the planet. And so he's done a lot. He's very humble and quiet. But big shout out to my radio husband, Mark Winter.
Arden Moore [00:28:21]:
Hey, if you want to check me out, go to ardenmore.com. You'll see that I teach pet first aid. I'm working on my next two books, so we're getting close to 30 on dog and cat books. And I just love being the host of this show. So until next time, this is your flea free host, Arden Moore, delivering just two words to all you two, three and four leggers out there. Oh.
Timestamped overview:
00:00 Arden Moore hosts the Obhave show.
05:40 Parents' support was essential for athlete's success.
08:52 Racing-inspired dog names chosen with family debate.
11:03 Chose white kitten for enjoying racing cars.
13:02 Interview led to relationship with Zymox pet brands.
17:52 Struggled with lifelong illness, shares story to inspire.
20:03 Truck and car bodies impact aerodynamics.
24:37 Struggling to find sponsorship, found connection through prayer.
28:21 Arden Moore promotes pet first aid, books, hosting.
Key topics and bullets:
Primary Topic: Introduction to Natalie Decker
- Arden Moore introduces Natalie Decker, a NASCAR driver known for promoting pet awareness and advocacy in addition to her racing career.
- Natalie Decker shares her experience of becoming the first female driver to place in the top five in the top three-tier NASCAR race at Daytona.
Primary Topic: Early Life and Passion for Racing
- Natalie Decker discusses her early exposure to motorsports and her family's involvement in racing, particularly in snowmobile racing.
- Her love for racing was ignited by watching NASCAR races with her family, which inspired her to pursue a career in racing.
Primary Topic: Transition into Racing
- Natalie Decker shares how she fell in love with go-kart racing after visiting a go-kart track during a business trip with her father.
- She discusses her journey from go-kart racing to stock car racing, highlighting the support of her parents in pursuing her dream.
Primary Topic: Introduction to Natalie Decker’s Pets
- Natalie Decker introduces her pets - Cash, Hoosier, Camber, and NASCAR, providing a brief description and background of each of them.
- She shares entertaining stories about each of her pets, highlighting their individual personalities and how they became part of her family.
Primary Topic: Partnership with Petking Brands
- Natalie Decker discusses her partnership with Petking Brands, specifically Zymox, and how she got involved with the company through her dogs.
- She talks about her involvement in promoting and using Zymox's products and how their support has been crucial to her and her pets.
Primary Topic: Charity Work and Health Advocacy
- Natalie Decker shares her personal experience with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and her journey of living with the condition.
- She discusses her work with the Arthritis Foundation, including a fundraising initiative and her efforts to raise awareness of autoimmune diseases through her partnership with Jay DeMarcus and Jason Crab.
Primary Topic: Racing Career
- Natalie Decker provides insights into the differences between racing trucks and stock cars, focusing on the aerodynamics and driving experiences in both types of vehicles.
- She talks about her experiences on the track, including the speeds she achieves during races and the challenges and safety considerations involved in professional racing.
Primary Topic: Off-Track Activities and Interests
- Natalie Decker shares her engagement with fans and the importance of showing her personal life through YouTube videos and streaming on Twitch.
- She discusses her partnership with Jay DeMarcus and Jason Crab, sharing details about their collaboration and the presence of these artists on her racing car.
Primary Topic: Conclusion and Gratitude
- Natalie Decker expresses her gratitude for the opportunity to be on the show and shares her passion for racing and pets.
- Arden Moore closes the episode with acknowledgments and shout-outs to Natalie Decker, her producers, and shares her own experience and details about her work and projects.