Drag Illustrated Issue 139, December 2018 | Page 111

30 UNDER 30 · 2018
MIKE DECKER III
■ THE FIRST EXPERIENCE Mike Decker III had
racing his family’s blown Outlaw 10.5 C7 Corvette
this year was not exactly memorable.
“My hands were shaking inside the car I was
so nervous,” Decker remembers. “The first round
of eliminations, I hit the wrong button and shut
the car off by accident.”
But things improved drastically from there for
the 22-year-old Decker, earning the Woodstock,
Maryland, native a spot on Drag Illustrated’s
30 Under 30 list. Decker won his first race at
his home track, Cecil County Dragway, in May
and then became the first driver in Outlaw 10.5
history to reach the 3.80s with his blast of 3.89
at the Yellow Bullet Nationals.
Now running 3.70s and 3.80s on a consistent
basis in the impressive-looking Corvette, Decker
has made considerable strides since that forget-
table debut that seems like eons ago now.
“I just had to get comfortable and be confident
in there,” Decker says. “I love being in there and I
love driving. It was very challenging at first, but
we surround ourselves with the best people. I’m
just real grateful to be doing this.”
Decker made his racing debut in an Outlaw
10.5 Camaro a year ago, making the move to his
father’s Corvette to start 2018. It’s been a whirl-
wind for Decker, but his family has only been
involved in the sport a decade. His father and
grandfather bought a couple of old cars in 2008,
one of which was a 12-second Nova, and the fam-
ily was immediately hooked.
That passion soon drifted into the Outlaw 10.5
world and Decker has enjoyed every minute of it.
They put drag radials on the car this year and that
has paid off in major ways. With Ken Quartuccio
routinely taking the class to new levels this season,
Decker knew they needed to have an answer. He
was also told so in as many words. “We were told
by our racing series we needed to step up or step
out,” Decker says.
That was the only pep talk Decker needed.
He responded with the incredible 3.89 pass to
set that mark, making a flurry of strong runs to
end the year. That sets up Decker for a big 2019
and beyond, which could include the rising star
stepping into the drag radial ranks.
“We’re going to keep stepping our game up,”
Decker asserts. “We’re not there to run second,
we’re there to win. If you’re satisfied running
second, you shouldn’t be here.” – J OS H H ACH DI
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December 2018
DragIllustrated.com
| D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | 111