Last week, people were hoping for Natalie Decker’s return to NASCAR for the 2021 season. However, as of this week, she is officially set to return after signing a secret contract and not releasing further detail.

Signing a New Contract

The 23-year-old NASCAR racer is from Eagle River, Wisconsin, and her plans to continue with NASCAR racing are set in stone for the upcoming 2021 season. Natalie Decker announced her return on Twitter, stating that she had signed a deal. However, she did not release any information regarding the agreement like the series, team, or any other detail.

All she stated was that the details regarding the contract would be coming soon. In the pictures she posted to Twitter, Natalie even went as far as blurring the signed documents entirely so that people couldn’t make out the details of her agreement.

Previous Seasons for Natalie Decker

Natalie Decker is coming fresh off of two back-to-back part-time seasons in the Truck Series. This includes a nineteen-race effort in 2019, where she was behind the wheel of a Toyota with #54 for DGR-Crosley and a thirteen-race effort in 2020 where she was behind the wheel of a Chevrolet with #44 for Niece Motorsports.

She ended up finishing in fifth place at the Daytona International Speedway for her career-high, back in February 2020. This was the highest finish for a female driver, ever, in the Truck Series. She’s also had eight other top 20 finishes with an average career finish of 23.8.

Natalie Decker has never competed in an Xfinity Series or Cup Series race; however, multiple fans believe the blurred logo on the papers in Decker’s photos seems to be the MBM Motorsports logo. MBM Motorsports fields cars in both series.

The 2021 NASCAR season is scheduled to start during the second weekend of February at the Daytona International Speedway.

The British automaker, Lotus, is slowly getting its affairs in order. The company will launch its first electric vehicle, the Evija, in the summer of 2021. It is also looking into the future by contemplating a transition to all-electric powertrains. In addition, the company is imagining what an endurance racer would look like at the 2030 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Is It a Plane? No, It’s a Futuristic Endurance Racer

The E-R9 is a conceptual vehicle with a futuristic design that features a fighter jet-style body and a delta-wing shape. The endurance racer has active aerodynamics, vertically mounted control surfaces that aid in high-speed cornering, and morphing body panels.

Drivers can change the vehicle’s shape on the fly, or the car can do it for them via an array of sensors, which allow the Lotus E-R9 to maintain minimum drag on the straight and maximal downforce through the corners.

The company doesn’t divulge all the details regarding the E-R9’s powertrain but confirms that it features an all-wheel drive with each wheel being powered separately. It also features torque vectoring, a technology used on the Evija. The main difference between both automobiles would be that the endurance racer will be able to make adjustments while on the move.

The E-R9 Features Technology That Lotus Will Develop in the Upcoming Years

Lotus strongly believes that advancements in battery technology over the next ten years will increase battery density and power, which will give rise to mixed cell chemistry batteries that can be replaced during pit stops by the maintenance crew.

The endurance racer was developed by Richard Hill, the company’s chief of aerodynamics, and Louis Keer, the main engineer behind the Lotus Evija. Its name pays homage to the company’s iconic racing past, as the 9 is a reference to the Lotus Mark IX, which was used for the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans.

While the E-R9 is still a conceptual vehicle, it gives a glimpse into the potential future of automotive racing, and things do look exciting.