By John Raffel
MM Sports Scene
COLEMAN — Tasha Decker will be an eighth grader at Coleman for the 2011-12 school year but is already in her first year of auto racing on the dirt track at Mount Pleasant Speedway.
“I’ve been going to the races ever since I was little,” said Decker, whose dad, Robert, formerly was a driver.
She’s in the four-cylinder class. Her best performance has been fourth place in a feature. Most of her competitors are older. There’s one that’s 15 and one that’s 17, she said, noting that the others are older. Since 13 is the youngest one can race at, Decker notes that she’s the youngest driver at the speedway.
Decker has been competing at Mount Pleasant every Friday night. As of mid-July, she had been in eight races.
“I’ve gotten better,” she said. “I want to win a heat race.”
Decker indicated she has already come close to that goal. But despite her age, she’s not necessarily a conservative driver.
“I try to take chances,” she said.
Decker admits it can get rough on the track. She’s going as fast as 60 miles an hour.
“I got pushed into the infield once,” she said. “But I know the car is safe.”
Decker said she and her dad both work on her car.
Going as fast as possible is what Decker really likes about her sport. Eventually, if possible, she wouldn’t mind advancing into other race classes.
“It will be a couple of years in this class and then maybe we could move out of street stock” she said, adding that eventually, racing in other states like Ohio could be a possibility.
Decker is a versatile athlete. At Coleman, she has participated in basketball, softball and volleyball.
“I ride my quad a lot,” she said.
Racing is her favorite sport, Decker acknowledges, because of the fast nature.
Decker especially enjoys working on cars.
She continually learns a lot. Decker’s grandmother, Mary Mettert, is among her biggest fans.
“I’ve gone to all of her races except two,” Mettert said. “I see she’s gaining confidence. I’m nervous when she goes around the curve.”