December 13th, 2011 (Eagle River, WI) - 2011 was another fantastic year for Paige and Claire. It’s hard to recap the entire season in such a short story. The girls ran the Mid-American season again and they both showed great improvement every time they got onto the track. When we started the season they still could not time in fast enough to make the guaranteed top 16 positions, which is not all that easy since normally there are 28 or more very experienced drivers trying to do the same. But by the July 2011 race in Madison, WI; Claire was hitting the feature with time, which in turn also made Paige work a lot more on her qualifying times. With the cars starting mid pack we were in the race. The girls also worked very hard at IRP Indianapolis, which was their first 100 lap race, with a pit stop. They ran very consistent and stayed out of trouble, also because of the crew the girls had reliable equipment, which resulted in a solid 6th and 7th place finish. The girls also gained additional seat time at Marshfield competing in the Super Stock class. Some of the top place finishing’s for the girls were; Claire had a 6th place finish at Norway MI, in the Mid-Am. Paige also had strong showings at WI dells and Madison.

During a weekend off from the Mid-Am schedule, Mark Kraus offered the girls a turn in his late model ASA cars. The girls jumped at the chance and they tested a day at Marshfield. I was a bit nervous at first, but after a couple of laps, Mark came and said Paige was within ½ a second of a good time at the track.  I then decided to let Paige race the following weekend.  Claire choose to start in the back and just see what happened. Paige’s first super late model race was very shocking, she tied for 3rd in qualifying, got 1st in the Fast Dash, and then finished 6th in the feature.  This sparked some attention, and got me interested in maybe racing a late model next year.

Oktoberfest at Lacrosse was the last race of the season.  The girls were ready to turn some heads, and make a mark. Paige got her 2nd chance in the super late model. She competed in the Futures Race, which had a total of 65 late model cars entered. Paige just missed the feature from her qualifying time, which then put her in the LCQ (Hooligans Race).  In there she finished a solid 2nd, which secured her a spot in the feature. The green flag dropped with Paige moving fast on the outside, maybe a little too fast because coming out of turn 2, she got tangled in a crash and that ended her night. Even though her night was ended quickly, her showing impressed a lot of people, and showed she had potential for only being in the late model two times.

The next day both girls got ready for the Mid-Am race, which was on Saturday night.  Again Claire realized the importance of the qualifying time when she put her #01 car qualify in the top 16 guaranteed spots.  She ended up qualifying 9th, and then getting the luck of the invert roll, which put her on the outside of the front row. Most of the guys thought they would just go to the inside of Claire and move by, not so, Claire quickly cleared the inside car and went to the front pulling away from the field and lapping the back markers. The field now changed there strategy to praying for a yellow flag. The second yellow came out on lap 22 which then allowed James Swan to get under the 01 car and make a pass.    Even though Claire didn’t win the race, she showed a lot of the Mid Am boys she has what it takes.

I want to sum this up by thanking everyone that has contributed there support, which made the season possible for Decker Racing.

Our much appreciated sponsors; Brian Goodwin, Ultracom Wireless, Gary David, Amsoil, Jorn’s Chevrolet, MDM Imaging, and Flo-Fast.

My Crew that has put up with me, and the girls all season; Greg Franz, Scott Anderson, and Sara Decker. The Wausau support group, Ben Martinson, Brian Back, Lyle Nowak, and also Bobby Gutknecht and Co.  Mark Kraus and crew for the chance in the super late model cars.
We could not have done it without you!!

Thanks again everyone,
Allen Decker and Dad