Natalie Decker will seek to make her NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut in February with DGR-Crosley, the team announced Friday.
The team co-owned by former Cup driver David Gilliland signed the 21-year-old Decker for its driver development program. She will run a select number of Truck races and a combination of K&N Pro Series and ARCA races.
She has competed in ARCA the past two seasons. Decker finished seventh in the points in ARCA last year, scoring two top-five and nine top-10 finishes. She became the fourth woman to win a pole at Daytona International Speedway.
“I’m really excited to be making the step up to trucks, especially with DGR-Crosley,” Decker said in a statement from the team. “Making the transition to trucks is going to help me progress my career and build my skillset. I think it’s very important that I’ll have the same team around me whichever series I’m running and having David (Gilliland) there to help coach me and give me advice.”
Said Gilliland: “I’m excited to be adding Natalie to our 2019 driver roster at DGR-Crosley. We have really competitive cars and a lot of talented drivers lined up for next year, so I’m excited to see what we can do together.
Decker’s full schedule for 2019 will be released at a later date.
Who’s ready to get their NASCAR on with me in 2019?
— Natalie Decker (@NatalieRacing) November 30, 2018
Beyond thankful! ❤️ Beyond excited! To be apart of @DGR_CROSLEY team! This is an opportunity of a life time to learn with an amazing team! Daytona here we come! pic.twitter.com/KOnolo7z9T
