Natalie Sather, 27, experienced sprint car driver and up-and-coming stock car racer, will be joining MAKE Motorsports as a development driver for the 2012 season.
Sather, a Fargo, ND, native will be piloting the #50 MAKE Motorsports entry in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) for two scheduled events – the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on March 31 and the Good Sam Roadside Assistance Carolina 200 presented by Cheerwine at Rockingham Speedway on April 15.
Sather is currently scheduled to make her debut in a MAKE Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) entry at Richmond. Additional races will be added as Sather and the team add partners and continue the development of their program.
Crew chief for Sather’s truck will be Mark Zakalowski, who is also crew chief on the #50 MAKE Motorsports NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) effort.
“I have been racing for more than 18 years with one goal in mind, NASCAR competition,” said Sather, who will also be driving additional races with other teams and in other series as she continues her path. “This opportunity to work with MAKE Motorsports will assist me in furthering my dreams and honing my skills for an eventual run to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.”
Like many professional drivers, Sather’s first experience was in karts at the tender age of nine. She worked on her skills and eventually won three track championships (1998 – 2001), two regional championships (1999, 2000) and was the 2001 IKF Grand National Champion on Pavement, the first female driver to achieve that honor.
Sather soon took her skills to the dirt behind the wheel of a sprint car and in 2007 became the first woman to win a major American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) trophy, followed up by a 2008 in which Sather finished top-ten in Knoxville Raceway point standings and was the first woman to receive the Knoxville Raceway 360 “Rookie of the Year” award.
Stock car competition began for Sather in 2009, with participation in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program. The transition to pavement racing was challenging, but Sather placed fourth in season standings at EvergreenSpeedway, as well as being named track and Washington division “Rookie of the Year.” 2010 continued Sather’s experience in stock cars with a season of NASCAR Whelen All American Series competition at South Boston Speedway. Despite breaking her wrist in the third event of the season, Sather recovered and did not miss a race, resulting in multiple top-five and top-10 finishes.
2011 found Sather back in the Whelen Series, resulting in 14 top-fives and 18 top-10s in only 26 starts. Sather was honored with not only a fifth-place ranking in the Virginia series standings and second spot in track points at South Boston, but was the recipient of the Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award.
Tracy Lowe and Mark Beaver, co-owners of MAKE Motorsports, have welcomed Sather to the team and look towards a long association between them.
“Natalie is a rare talent and someone we are proud to put behind the wheel of the #50,” said Lowe. “She has shown her ability in other forms of racing as well as in stock cars, and we look forward to being a part of her debut into Camping World Series, and Nationwide Series, competition.”
MAKE Motorsports PR
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