Winning Women of Daytona 200

2023’s Daytona 200 saw a field of 39 racers take the green flag. Among those drivers were five females: Amber Balcaen, Toni Breidinger, Mandy Chick, Natalie Decker, and Logan Misuraca. These five bring over fifty years of driving experience with them to the track. They rightfully boast multiple Rookie of the Year awards across varied series, wheeling everything from go-karts to midgets to NASCAR trucks and cars.

Amber Balcaen is a 3^rd-generation driver hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She was the first Canadian female to win a NASCAR race, achieving Victory Lane in 2016. She’s been racing for 20 years, starting out with go-karts at age 10. Balcaen graduated college with a business degree and put her marketing skills to good use, building her brand and securing funding for her passion through profitable contracts, including guest appearances on several reality TV shows.

Other notable moments from her career include:

• 1^st female to win a dirt track championship in Manitoba
• 2014 Rookie of the Year, Northern Outlaw Spring Association
• 2016 Rookie of the Year, NASCAR Whelen All American Series
• 2018 & 2019 – race for Kyle Busch Motorsports for a limited season

In 2020, Balcaen returned to dirt track racing in the National Powri Midget series until a horrible crash sidelined her. Recovery was arduous due to collapsed lungs, a severe concussion, and burns on her arms. An ICON Direct sponsorship kick-started her 2021 career in the ARCA West series where she drove her way to second in points in the BMR Drivers Academy (a NASCAR development program). Her 2022 season saw 6 Top 10s and a seventh-place finish in points in the ARCA Menards series. For 2023, Balcaen signed with Venturini Motorsports for a partial season in ARCA, starting the season off right with a 35^th to 6^th place run at the Daytona 200. (Her 35^th place start was due to mechanical issue preventing a qualifying, but she was P2 in practice, and got as high as 3^rd during the race.) Look for Balcaen in the #15 ICON Direct Toyota for Venturini Motorsports.

Toni Breidinger is the first Arab-American woman to drive in any NASCAR national series. She has driven her way to nineteen USAC (United States Automobile Club) victories. Her transition from open-wheel midgets to stock cars went well. Continuous improvement has been shown each season. Breidinger had one Top 10 in 2018 and had six Top 10s in 2022. She finished the 2022 ARCA season sixth in standings. For 2023, Breidinger is running a split schedule with ARCA Menards for Venturini Motorsports and with Toyota Gazoo Racing for Nitro Motorsports. At the Daytona 200, Breidinger started 12^th but mechanical issues brought her day to a close with a 23^rd place finish (still on the lead lap). Look for Breidinger in the #55 FP Movement Toyota at the ARCA races this season.

Mandy Chick is another third-generation driver. Her family history of racing came in the truck series, where her father and grandfather ran Team Chick Motorsports from 2001 to 2006. Chick began racing asphalt in 2015 with a partial Asphalt Late Models season. She ran a full season in 2016 and earned Rookie of the Year honors in the NASCAR Missouri State series. From 2017-2021, she raced in the JEGS/CRA All Stars Tour, earning a Top Ten in points every season, in addition to a Sportsmanship Award and Pit Crew of the Race award. She also started college during this time, working towards a bachelors in mechanical engineering at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology. Chick ran a partial ARCA season in 2022 and started her full ARCA 2023 season at Daytona. She started 25^th and finished fifth. Look for Chick behind the wheel of her #74 Rose Hulman Institute of Technology Chevrolet.

Natalie Decker began racing at the age of nine. She has earned multiple Rookie of the Year honors across several series. In 2018, she began ARCA racing with Venturini Motorsports. A pole and a fifth place finish at Daytona that year helped her finish seventh in points. Her best ARCA finish in 2019 was sixth at Daytona. In 2020, Decker moved over to the Truck series with a top finish of fifth at Daytona, becoming the first female to score a Top Five in the truck series. 2021 and 2022 saw her driving an Xfinity car with eleven starts across the two seasons with a best finish of 24^th at Talladega in 2021 and 27^th at Atlanta in 2022. For 2023, Decker will drive a partial season in both ARCA and Xfinity for Emerling-Gase Motorsports. At this year’s Daytona 200, she started 17^th and finished 14^th. Look for Decker behind the wheel of the #53 SPLAT Ford.

Logan Misuraca splits her time between the racetrack and college campus. Like Mandy Chick, Misuraca is pursuing an engineering degree, though her focus is on aerospace engineering rather than mechanical engineering. She is an experienced driver in quarter midgets, go karts, legend cars, and pro late models. Misuraca’s most recent accomplishments include 2020 Pro Late Model Champion and 2020 Rookie of the Year with New Smyrna Speedway Pro Late Models. In last year’s ARCA East Series, her highest finish was 7^th at New Smyrna. After 200 miles of Daytona driving, she finished 18^th out of 39 drivers. Look for Misuraca driving the #63 CELSIUS Chevrolet.

The future of motorsports is evolving. Female drivers like Balcaen, Breidinger, Chick, Decker, and Misuraca are making a name for themselves while carving a path for future drivers. Breaking into a male-dominated sport is not a simple feat, but these five young women are putting in the work to show us all that it’s possible. Their expertise and experiences are laying the groundwork for young girls with an interest in motorsports to find their way into the world of NASCAR.