Three years after making his NASCAR national series debut in a Craftsman Truck Series race at Richmond Raceway and adding another start later in the season at the Milwaukee Mile, Derek Lemke returned to NASCAR back in May at Nashville Superspeedway.
Lemke, the husband of fellow part-time NASCAR driver Natalie Decker, finished 33rd at Richmond and 31st at Milwaukee in 2023, and he set a new career-best result with his 21st place effort at Nashville Superspeedway. He also returned to Richmond in August and finished 24th.
But before that Richmond start, he also debuted in another NASCAR series, competing at Iowa Speedway for DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series and finishing 26th.
This past weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Lemke returned to the O'Reilly Series with a new team, driving the No. 53 Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen car that Decker drove at Pocono Raceway back in June. He finished 28th.
Derek Lemke replacement confirmed at Phoenix
Neither Lemke nor Decker, who has made five O'Reilly Series and two Truck Series starts this year, currently have any additional starts lined up for the 2026 season.
This weekend at Phoenix Raceway, it's Will Rodgers who is set to drive the No. 53 Chevrolet, marking his first ever start with the team and third overall start of the year. He competed for Young's Motorsports at Watkins Glen International and Sonoma Raceway and placed 20th and 17th, respectively.
He hasn't run an O'Reilly Series race on an oval since competing in the May 2021 race at Nashville and finishing 14th. Since then, he has made nine total O'Reilly Series appearances, including a DNQ in his most recent oval appearance at Auto Club Speedway in 2022.
He has never run an O'Reilly Series race at Phoenix, although he did run the 2021 finale at the track in the Truck Series, finishing 22nd. He most recently ran a Truck Series oval race at Richmond Raceway in August 2023, finishing 26th.
Live coverage of the Timberland PRO 200 is set to be provided by the CW Network from Phoenix Raceway beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 17. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action from the sixth race on the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series postseason schedule!
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