Paige Decker (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

driver from

Eagle River, Wisconsin Eagle River is a city and the county seat of Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,628 at the 2020 census. Because of the many lakes in the area, the city is a popular vacation and retirement destination. The area contai ...

. She has raced in the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series i ...

and

Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

and was a 2014 NASCAR

Drive for Diversity The NASCAR Driver Development Program (formerly known as Drive for Diversity / D4D) program is a development system instituted by the American auto racing league NASCAR. The program's purpose is to attract minority and female individuals to the ...

participant.

Racing career

Paige Decker Mid American at Road America 2010

Decker started her racing career in snowmobiles as a 3-year-old. When Natalie was 9 years old, Chuck bought her a

kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of small sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance ...

and he bought one for Paige too. Decker raced in asphalt short tracks in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

and gradually branched out to other tracks in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. She toured in the Mid-American Stock Car Series in 2010 and 2011. Then she moved up to racing in Super Late Models. She joined the TUNDRA Super Late Model Tour in 2013. Decker became the first woman and rookie to win in the series at the Golden Sands Speedway event. Decker was awarded the tour's Rookie of the Year in 2013.

NASCAR

Decker was named as a NASCAR

driver in 2014. She competed in

Whelen All-American Series The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (formerly the Whelen All-American Series, Winston Racing Series and the Dodge Weekly Series) is a points championship for NASCAR-sanctioned local short-track motor racing in the United States and Canad ...

events for

Rev Racing Rev Racing, short for Revolution Racing, is an auto racing team competing at the regional level of NASCAR. Owned by former Dale Earnhardt, Inc. president Max Siegel, the team primarily fields participants in the Drive for Diversity, an initiat ...

that year at the

Hickory Motor Speedway Hickory Motor Speedway is a short track located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most storied venues, and is often referred to as the "World's Most Famous Short Track" and the "Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars". The t ...

, Langley Speedway, and Motor Mile Speedway. She had been attending the

University of Wisconsin-Stout A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

(pursuing a degree in early childhood education) for two years but had to quit to race in the Southern United States for the season. She returned to college in 2015 while continuing to race super late models. Decker received a call from

Mike Harmon Racing Mike Harmon Racing (formerly CHK Racing, Elite 2 Racing and Richardson-Netzloff-Harmon Racing) is an American professional stock car racing team that fields the No. 74 Chevrolet Camaro part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Carson Ware and Daw ...

New Smyrna Speedway New Smyrna Speedway is a 1/2-mile asphalt Oval track racing, oval racetrack located near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that races the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series every Saturday night. It also has a smaller trac ...

during the World Series of Stock Car Racing within the

Daytona Speedweeks Daytona Speedweek presented by AdventHealth is a series of racing events that take place during January and February at Daytona International Speedway. Traditionally leading up to the Daytona 500, in 2021 it concluded with the Daytona road cours ...

to see if she was interested to race in one of their trucks. She attempted her first ever

race driving the No. 74

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

for owner/driver Mike Harmon, but was one of four teams that failed to qualify. She qualified 33rd fastest, about 1/10 second behind the 32nd final spot. The first practice for the race had rained out and she had one 90 minute practice to find speed. She has NASCAR certification to run short tracks in the Truck Series only; her goal is to race in the

. Decker planned another attempt at

Iowa Speedway Iowa Speedway is a oval short track in Newton, Iowa. Since its inaugural season of racing in 2006, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, including events sanctioned by NASCAR and IndyCar. NASCAR has owned the facility since 2013, wi ...

on June 19, 2015; this deal, however, did not come together. Decker qualified in the fall Martinsville race and finished 30th. Decker returned in 2016, with her sister Claire Decker, and her cousin Natalie Decker competing in the Martinsville race. Claire and Paige qualified for the race, while Natalie was sent home.

Personal life

ClaireAndPaigeDecker2015SlingerNationals

Decker is the daughter of Allen Decker who comes from a family of snowmobile racing riders. Four Decker brothers raced snowmobiles in the 1970s; Allen Decker was a

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

rider for Bombardier along with teammate

Jacques Villeneuve Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (; born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian former racing driver, who competed in IndyCar from 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1994 to 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1995, and Formula One from to . Villeneuve won t ...

for the 1979–80 season. The Decker family raced snowmobiles against the

Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver and model. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win ...

family during the 1970s. Sue Decker, Paige's aunt, introduced Danica Patrick's parents. Her sister Claire Decker also races for her family's Decker Racing team. They are joined on the team by their younger cousin NASCAR Drive for Diversity driver Natalie Decker. Natalie's father (and Paige's uncle) is Chuck Decker, the former owner of the Eagle River Derby Track which hosts the

World Championship Snowmobile Derby The World Championship Snowmobile Derby is the World championship snowmobile race. It is held at the World Championship Derby Complex, formerly known as the Eagle River Derby Track, along U.S. Route 45 in Eagle River, Wisconsin on the third weeken ...

. Decker was a student at the

University of Wisconsin–Stout The University of Wisconsin–Stout (UW–Stout or Stout) is a public university in Menomonie, Wisconsin, United States. The Institute of technology, polytechnic university of the University of Wisconsin System, it enrolls more than 6,900 stude ...

and graduated in December 2016.

Images

File:Paige Decker 2011 Super Stock Golden Sands.jpg, 2011 Super Stock at Golden Sands Speedway File:Paige Decker 2012 Late Model Marshfield.jpg, 2012 Late Model at Marshfield Motor Speedway File:Paige Decker 2013 Late Model at Golden Sands Speedway.jpg, driving her 2013 late model at Golden Sands Speedway File:Paige Decker at 2014 Slinger Nationals.jpg, driving her late model at the 2014 Slinger Nationals File:Paige Decker 2015 Slinger Nationals.jpg, 2015 late model at the Slinger Nationals File:Paige Decker 2016 Road America.jpg, Decker at 2016 Road America 180 Xfinity race

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

Camping World Truck Series

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

References

External links

Decker Racing Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Decker, Paige University of Wisconsin–Stout alumni 1993 births People from Eagle River, Wisconsin Racing drivers from Wisconsin Living people American female racing drivers NASCAR drivers ARCA Midwest Tour drivers 21st-century American sportswomen