Natalie Decker on life after marrying Derek Lemke: “It’s so crazy nothing has changed”

Natalie Decker, the part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver, recently shared some details about how her life has changed since she married longtime boyfriend Derek Lemke. Decker and Lemke announced their engagement in December 2022 and got married on New Year's Eve in 2023.

Recently, in an interview with Frontstretch, Decker was asked about how things have been for her in the first year and a half of marriage. She was questioned about how her relationship with Lemke changed from that of a boyfriend and girlfriend to that of a husband and wife. She went on to say that even though they were just dating, she thought they were a team when Lemke wanted to move to North Carolina to support her racing career.

"It’s so crazy, because I feel like nothing has changed other than we wear rings on our fingers now. Our life already was so combined together. We were such a team right away when he fully committed to supporting my racing," Decker said.

But now that they're married, Decker claims it's "so much fun," and every year, it's getting better and better.

"We’ve been together for eight years, only married for a few months, but it’s so wonderful," she stated.

Decker's desire to race against her husband

In the same Frontstretch interview, Natalie Decker was asked what it would mean to her to share the track with her husband Derek Lemke in the future. She said she would be thrilled to have that chance.

"That’s literally our goal and dream. We talk about that daily," she claimed.

Natalie Decker mentioned how Lemke has never beaten her and that it is something they talk about "all the time." She pointed to the few times they've raced against each other, as she hoped they would get to battle it out in either the Truck Series or the Xfinity Series. The part-time Xfinity Series driver claimed that she and Lemke have to make it happen, and only then would they be able to determine who the better racecar driver between the two is.

It's worth mentioning that Natalie Decker made her first Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where she finished in 29th place. She has appeared in 32 Trucks races in the last two years, and 11 races in the series over the course of four years.

Derek Lemke, on the other hand, has only made a couple of starts in NASCAR. Both of them came last season in the Truck Series for Reaume Brothers Racing at Richmond and Milwaukee. He finished in 33rd and 31st place, respectively.

Thus, it will be interesting to see if Decker and Lemke get to lock horns with each other in a NASCAR race.