Natalie Decker Reviews Her NASCAR Xfinity Series Return Race at Talladega: “Overall I’m Really Happy”

Published 04/27/2021, 8:40 AM EDT

Earlier this weekend, the NASCAR Xfinity Series race concluded at the Talladega Superspeedway. Unfortunately, the race ended prematurely when rain decided to play spoilsport. In the end, Jeb Burton took his maiden Xfinity Series win, ahead of Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger. Meanwhile, Natalie Decker had mixed feelings about finishing in 24th place in a rain-shortened race.

Speaking after the race, Decker said, “We didn’t get to finish the race, sadly. They called it a few laps short, like 20 laps short, and we were running 24th. There was just a big caution, a big wreck we missed it. We were doing really well, going racing, go racing up front and see what our car had. Sadly, the rain came and they called the race.

“So we finished P24, which I’m still happy with. I’m happy that we missed all those big wrecks.

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“Overall, I’m really happy with today,” she said further.

What else did Natalie Decker say?

Decker acknowledged that the car felt good under her and she was comfortable while driving it on the track. Admittedly, this result was a bit of a Herculean effort because she endured a few mid-race handicaps. Apparently, she suffered from radio trouble and she could not hear her spotter or crew chief.

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Considering that she dodged several wrecks, the fact that Decker did it without her spotter, was incredible. She confessed that her ears were ringing because every time her spotter spoke, all she could get was static. Other than that little hiccup, Natalie Decker was really happy with how her race panned out.

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This is only Decker’s second-ever Xfinity Series race and a vast improvement from her debut. In her first race, she got involved in a crash and ended her race early. This time around, she managed to survive the race, though it ended prematurely. Now, Decker only has three more races left in her contract and will be keen to improve her racecraft.

Natalie Decker Returns to NASCAR Racing at Talladega: When and Where to Watch the Race?

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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.