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NASCAR Star Natalie Decker to Mentor Olympic Champ and FIFA Women’s World Cup Winner in an Online Race

Published 01/01/2021, 7:00 AM EST

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In February, there will be a special NASCAR Heat 5 stream dedicated to promoting female gamers. As it turns out, Truck Series driver Natalie Decker is set to aid FIFA Women’s World Cup winner, Hope Solo. The latter expressed her interest in participating in the online race, and Decker will pretty much act as her mentor.

For the uninitiated, this event is the brainchild of INIT Esports, via its “Race Me” initiative. Apparently, the group’s objective is to promote female gamers and create awareness with regard to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

When I was paired up with Hope Solo to coach her on racing the Indy road course I was super excited for the opportunity,” Decker said.

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“What made it even more special was that when I was a freshman at Northland Pines High School my Sports Literature teacher, Mr. Olivotti, had our class read Hope Solo’s book, so I already had a connection with her,” she added.

Natalie Decker and Hope Solo are a few prominent names competing

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Obviously, Hope Solo will be squaring off against other opponents, including footballer Madison Hammond, Paralympic rower, and cross-country skier Oksana Masters, wrestler Liv Morgan, hockey player’ Madison Packer, and basketballer Aerial Powers.

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It is worth mentioning that the six athletes will race against each other on the Indianapolis road course. The likes of Motorsport Games, Asus, and Fanatec have all thrown their hats in the ring to sponsor the event. Furthermore, the Init Esports Twitch channel will broadcast the race.

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Of course, everything is for a good cause as all proceeds will go to the UN’s Girl Up Initiative. The deadline for all the donations is January 20, 2021.

Without a doubt, Natalie Decker, Hope Solo, and the other female athletes will be proud to support such an initiative.

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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