The motorsports world often gets pegged as a men’s game, with a lot of folks saying cars are for boys and girls should stick to looking pretty. Right now, the Cup Series doesn’t have any female drivers. However, things are a bit different in the Xfinity Series as racers like Natalie Decker have been making waves in the division and carving out a spot for themselves.

Yet, despite their hard work and skills behind the wheel, women in NASCAR often face skepticism. They’re frequently told they’re just there for the looks and don’t bring real substance to the sport. Unfortunately, Decker, like many others, has been a victim of this too, which she recently opened up about. The racer also shared how she deals with this kind of negativity. 

Natalie Decker reveals Danica Patrick was an inspiration to her 

The presence of women and girls in motorsport at every level is alarmingly scarce, and those who do compete often hit a wall trying to break into the top ranks. According to NASCAR’s Diversity and Inclusion Report, a mere 3.3% of NASCAR drivers are female. Although this figure has been inching upward, the gender gap in the sport remains wide. And those who’ve made it sometimes get hit with ridiculous questions about whether their looks or gender are the reasons they’re in the sport.

During a chat on the Kenny Wallace Show, Natalie Decker shared how she’s been pegged as being in her position solely because of her appearance, with comments like, “She’s only there ’cause she’s pretty,” or “She only got the ride ’cause she’s a girl”. Tired of these remarks, Decker decided to flip the script and take those words as compliments instead because, according to her, “I’ve worked my butt off to get to where I am today.” She also shared that Danica Patrick has been a huge inspiration for her in dealing with such attitudes.

“I don’t know if it was a documentary or what it was, but she was getting interviewed in someone in this documentary series. And someone was like, you know. What’s it like being looked at as a s*x symbol or something along the lines of that and I don’t know a word for word what she said. But it was something like… You know, she’s… proud to be looked at as… those things because Can be sexy, you can be nurturing, you can be… You can be strong. You can be driven, you can be all of those things. So you should be proud to be all of those things,” the driver shared.

However, this isn’t the first rodeo for Natalie Decker discussing the hurdles female drivers encounter in the sport. Way back in 2022, she and Toni Breidinger got real about the ongoing challenges women face in motorsports, including getting sponsorships.

Female ARCA driver sheds light on the unique challenges women face in motorsport

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In NASCAR, getting noticed and finding sponsors is crucial for climbing the ladder, but for women, these opportunities can be scarce, according to female NASCAR drivers speaking with ABC News.

“It’s great that men and women can compete in NASCAR. But I think that inequality is still there and it kind of stems off of the fact that we are lacking on funding,” explained Toni Breidinger, racing in the ARCA Menards and NASCAR Truck Series, to ABC News.

Echoing this sentiment, Natalie Decker told ABC News about her quest for sponsorships since she began racing at just 9 years old, highlighting the sport’s hefty costs. Beyond the financial hurdles, earning respect in a male-dominated field presents another layer of challenge, both Decker and Breidinger emphasized.

Female NASCAR Drivers Hailie Deegan & Natalie Decker Add Historical New Chapter to Daytona’s Unprecedented Legacy

“It’s really difficult to gain respect, be trusted and for someone to really understand that you know what you’re doing. And that’s difficult coming into the sport with little funding and maybe not a lot of seat time. When you’re new and then you’re also a woman on top of that? There’s so many obstacles,” Decker pointed out.

What’s your take—do you think the sponsorship struggle is particularly tougher for women, or is it just part of a broader sponsorship crunch in NASCAR that affects female drivers too?