MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Nov. 30, 2018)
- DGR-Crosley announced today that they have added Natalie Decker to their driver development program for the 2019 season. Decker will run a select number of NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races as well as a combination of NASCAR K&N Pro Series and ARCA Racing Series events. Decker's longtime partner N29 Technologies, LLC will come onboard as she enters her rookie season at DGR-Crosley.
The 21-year-old Eagle River, Wis. native will make the transition to the Truck Series after competing in the ARCA Racing Series for the past two years. Decker, coming off a career-best season, finished seventh in the 2018 ARCA Driver Point Standings after scoring two top-five and nine top-10 finishes throughout the 20-race season.
"I'm really excited to be making the step up to trucks, especially with DGR-Crosley. They bring fast Toyota's to the track every weekend whether it be in the K&N Series or Truck Series," said Decker. "Making the transition to trucks is going to help me progress my career and build my skillset. Being able to race in all three series will be beneficial because I can run an ARCA or K&N race that will help me prepare for the truck race. 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. Being a driver with a lot of experience and the father to a race car driver, I'm really excited to learn from him."
As plans continue to come together, DGR-Crosley co-owner David Gilliland is excited for the future.
"I'm excited to be adding Natalie to our 2019 driver roster at DGR-Crosley," said Gilliland. "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. I've watched Natalie develop over the last season in an ARCA car. It'll be fun putting her in our equipment and watching her progress to the Truck Series."
Decker is expected to make her NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut in February at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. A full schedule will be released at a later date.
