NASCAR is one of the few sports where women compete against men in the same leagues. Being a female NASCAR driver has never been easy, as around 134 women have qualified for and started a race in one of NASCAR’s touring series. However, only 4 of them have managed to win a race in the history of the sport. Although Natalie Decker isn’t yet a NASCAR race winner, she has proved her worth on the tracks time and time again. But this time the 27-year-old is making the rounds for a personal achievement.

On New Year’s Eve last year, Natalie Decker married her long-time boyfriend, Derek Lemke. Now it’s been 8 months since they got together, and they are ready to give some good news to the world. The couple is expecting a child, and to announce that, Decker took to X to share the news. While most of the fandom was celebrating the couple’s happy moments, some naysayers started to troll the couple in the comments section.

In the post on X, Decker shared 4 pictures of herself and her husband, along with images from her sonography. This sent fans into a frenzy of joy, with hundreds of congratulations heading their way.

When Toby Christie retweeted Decker’s post, he captioned it, “Natalie Decker announces that she and her husband, Derek Lemke, are expecting their first child.” While this helped the news reach out to more fans, some of them clearly did not show their support. And here’s possibly why.

One fan made a comment saying, “I’m glad she’s found happiness in retirement.” While Decker will need to take a short break from racing while approaching childbirth, she did not say a word about retiring from the sport.

Upon seeing this comment, Decker made another post on X where she retweeted the fan’s hurtful comment as she cleared out, “I don’t owe anybody an answer for anything, but I want to make one thing clear: a race car driver is always a race car driver. I’ll be back in the car in 2025.”

Natalie Decker’s message sent waves around the NASCAR community, with many of her fans joining hands to back her up.

Fandom calls for ignorance as Decker faces mixed reactions

This is undoubtedly the most beautiful time of her motherhood. And the to-be-parents are evidently happy and so excited to welcome their baby. Derek Lemke also shared pictures from the photoshoot on Instagram and captioned it with “Lemke, table for 3 🤍” How beautiful, right?

While Lemke’s post was filled with best wishes, Natalie Decker’s “Race car driver” post also made her realize how much people support her. One fan was even seen encouraging Natalie to ignore the negativity and focus on celebrating her pregnancy with supportive words. The comment read, “Ignore these fools, Natalie. Congratulations to you and @dereklemke!”

A fan showed support for Decker by keeping it simple and joyful, offering heartfelt congratulations to Natalie and Derek on their exciting news. The comment reads, “Congratulations, you two!”

This fan shared a few more words than most, saying, “Good for you Natalie. You’ll be a great Mama and we’ll look forward to seeing you in a car again soon!!” The fan expresses confidence in Natalie’s future as a mother, looking at her zeal and the love she carries while also eagerly waiting for her return to racing.

In a ‘you go girl’ moment, one fan advises Decker to use the criticism as motivation, reinforcing her determination to return to racing stronger than ever. The comment simply told Decker, “Let em fuel your fire!”

“Hopefully not!” said one fan when the retirement comment was brought up, as the fan wants Decker to continue racing. With this, many more fans came to share support for the driver and her husband while reminding them that it was a day of celebration. Hopefully, this does not affect Decker more than it already has, and we wish her the best of luck with her pregnancy.

Now that Natalie Decker is having a baby with another motorsports racer, do you think their child will take to the wheel too? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.