Natalie Decker made headlines at Dover earlier this year, but for all the wrong reasons. She struggled badly at the Monster Mile and was so slow that officials eventually black-flagged her during the Truck Series race. Frustrated, she lashed out over the team radio at the series director and even criticized her own team, drawing widespread criticism online. Now, as she prepares to return for another race, fans aren’t exactly giving her a warm welcome back.

NASCAR writer Joseph Sprigley revealed that Decker will be taking part in the Winn-Dixie 250 in Daytona this weekend, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet for Young’s Motorsports. For this race, she will be sponsored by the comedy series Chad Powers from Hulu Sports.

It will be her second race in NASCAR since the infamous Dover incident, which took place in May. The weekend began on a sour note for her, as she damaged her car before qualifying, forcing her to start from 33rd on the grid. And when the race began, the penalty floodgates opened.

Decker got a pass-through penalty on the opening lap for pulling out of line before reaching the start line. While serving that penalty, she sped in the pit lane and was penalized once again. By lap 81, she was nursing a slow, damaged truck several laps down and reached her breaking point when her pit crew asked her to park the truck in the garage.

“I’m sorry Josh, I’m not going to come back to the Truck Series,” Decker said to her crew chief over the radio. “I’m staying in the O’Reilly Series this series f***ing sucks.”

This was a bad look for NASCAR, at least as far as many insiders were concerned, and even former Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick had zero sympathy for Decker. He felt that, when competing at this level, it was important for anyone, regardless of gender, to carry themselves professionally and avoid emotional outbursts like the one Decker had.

Decker kept true to her promise and didn’t return to the Truck Series. She lost her sponsors as a result, too, but did make a return a few weeks later to Pocono in the O’Reilly Series race, driving the No. 53 car for Joey Gase Motorsports. Fans were unhappy because of how she acted the last time she was in NASCAR, and the fact that she had a DNF on lap 17 — although it was no fault of hers — did not help.

Now that she’s gearing up for Daytona, the feeling among fans remains mostly the same. Many on X still remember her Dover rant, with jabs at Decker filling the post announcing her return.

One fan commented, “Is she bringing her therapist?” A direct reference to her breakdown at Dover.

Another fan commented, “Who is she going to run into and then blame this time?” Similarly, one more fan wrote, “Can’t wait for her to blame someone else for her crashing again.” This draws on the view that Decker has a history of becoming involved in incidents and then directing responsibility outward rather than owning the outcome.

Earlier this year at Daytona, Sam Mayer’s car came to a stop after a wreck in the O’Reilly Series race. Decker had around 15 seconds to avoid the incident but drove straight into his stationary car. She then ended up blaming Mayer for the crash.

One fan wrote, “I thought we learned,” echoing the sentiment of those who felt she should not have returned to NASCAR after the Dover incident.

Another fan wrote, “We were almost free of her,” showing a desire for the sport to move on from a driver many feel has not earned another opportunity. One fan also connected the sponsorship to the comedy’s premise, asking, “Do you think she could be like Chad and create a disguise that makes her good at driving a race car?”

These reactions come from a mix of poor results, high-profile struggles, and public frustration. Now, the question is whether Decker can put together a clean, competitive run at Daytona and start changing that perception.