Kevin Harvick on Natalie Decker: "I don't like to see a mockery made out of what our sport is"

Natalie Decker is back in the news after her recent NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at Dover. Earlier this year, she received criticism for arriving late to a wreck in the NASCAR O’Reilly season-opener at Daytona, but this situation was different.

After being penalized by NASCAR for changing lanes before the start, and later told she was not meeting minimum speed, she got very upset on the radio, which you can listen to HERE. In the radio back-and-forth, she talks about not being able to continue on, takes aim the race director, and sounds distraught.

The team tried to calm her down and told her that she could bring the truck in if she needed to. Decker did retire from the race after 81 of 200 laps, as she could not reach minimum speed.

What followed was an onslaught of criticism, which expressed concern about on the radio as she struggled to keep going. However, there was a lot of sympathy as well, as people recognized that she was having a crisis behind the wheel.

In the latest episode of SPEED with Will Buxton and Kevin Harvick, Buxton noted that, and said the radio transmission was “quite difficult to listen to.”

He then asked Harvick where he stands in regards to Decker, and the 2014 Cup Series champion was among those without sympathy.

No sympathy from Harvick

“I’m in the zero sympathy category,” said Harvick. “I think that racing is something — either you’re good at it or you’re not, and I don’t like to see a mockery made out of what our sport is. And we have so many great up-and-coming female drivers.

“You look at what Danica Patrick did, and you look at Katherine Legge, and a lot of the female that have done such a great job, and I hate to see all of the work for a Jade Avedisian, Isabella Robusto, that is coming up through the ranks. All of the females that are trying to do it the right way by being good at their craft. Seeing the rage quit that she (Decker) went through this weekend, I have zero sympathy for throwing a temper tantrum and blaming it on a series director, and all the things that she said over the radio, and all the things that have happened before this. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for this one.”

Buxton went on to say that she sounded ‘scared’ and ‘terrified,’ which is a dangerous thing to be while driving a race car at around 150mph at Dover. He also wondered if this is a case of her being rushed up the ranks, and someone putting her in a position she was ill-equipped to handle.

Don’t take shortcuts

“I think when you’re terrified, you don’t need to be on the race track,” replied Harvick. “I think it’s both. I think she sounded terrified, and I think unprepared to be at the level of the racing that you need to be at. There are no shortcuts in this — male or female. You have to go through the process to do it right. And that’s the part that I don’t like. I don’t like the fact that you can get to where you want to be because of male or female.

“And I think that when you look at the female side of things, it’s so touchy, but we have so many good ones that are coming up through the ranks, putting in the time time, trying to make sure they are prepared when they get to the level that they need to be. You go back and look — it’s not easy. You can go back and look at Hailie Deegan. She is on the path to getting to where she needs to be. Makes a couple of missteps, gets in the wrong situation, and then you’re going to Indy NXT and you’re going to do the things that are different. And now she’s basically starting over on the NASCAR side on the west coast to try and get back into that progression of the steps that you have to take to properly be competitive.

“If you’re going to do this at a high level, a low level, a mid level — whatever that is, you have to take the proper steps to be competitive. A, so you’re not scared to death, and B, so you’re competitive in order to run fast enough on the race track to not be a hindrance, and be somebody who is dangerous for the other competitors to be around. At some point, you have to take responsibility for yourself in order to be what you need to be at the level that you’re racing. I hate what this does to the women who are trying to do this correctly, and get the experience and present themselves properly to the rest of the world, and will be able to do it just like Danica Patrick did.”

They agreed that the Decker situation could undo the good work others are doing in bringing women drivers into the sport who are ready to take on the national level.

Decker has 15 starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Series, and Dover was her 34th start in Trucks. While she did have a fifth-place finish at Daytona in 2020, Decker has failed to finish 15 of her 34 Truck races, and was parked for being too slow in the last two.