LAS VEGAS — Popular Utah driver Natalie Waters has become an annual participant at the Only Bulls Open Wheel Showdown since the inaugural 2023 event.
She plans to continue her participation in this year’s November 5-7 event at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The 22-year-old has been a participant in the $50,000-to-win winged sprint car event, but she’s switching gears and plans to participate in the $10,000-to-win supermodified portion of the event.
Waters has been enjoying success this year with her new form of transportation. Her family purchased a supermodified early in the season and her driving style seems to be a near perfect match for the offset roadsters. She is on the verge of sealing the Speed Tour Super Modified Rookie of the Year title with a solid performance in the upcoming Las Vegas Motor Speedway event.
“There are a couple of reasons why we decided to bring the super instead of our sprint car,” explained Waters. “We did really well our first race in a supermodified, a whole lot better than we expected. We kinda felt like we had better odds in the super making the race and all of that good stuff.
“We had an issue at Diamond Cup with the supermodified. We blew the whole rear end where it connects to the driveline. That all blew apart. We had to sit out a couple of races with the super. For sponsor reasons we needed to do another race in the super, but they just didn’t have that many races left. That was another reason we decided to do Las Vegas with the super.
“The final reason we decided to bring the super is our car has never been on a big track that we know of,” Waters noted. “We thought it would be interesting to get that car on a big track and see how it does. It’s really, really, good on the short tracks and it’s been easy to manipulate and handle for the last two races I’ve driven. I’m excited to see what it will do at Vegas.”
Waters attributes her success in the supers to being comfortable with the driving style that the cars demand.
“I am definitely more comfortable in the super. It feels a lot more stable. As far as the sprint car goes, I struggle with qualifying,” Waters said. “Racing and practicing I’m fine, and we’re in the mix. I struggle with qualifying because those guys get it cranked sideways and never lift. There are a couple of other drivers like me that just can’t do it. It just doesn’t feel right and it feels unstable. I can’t get myself to do it.
“The super is the complete opposite,” she continued. “The smoother you are the faster you are. That’s kinda why I like the driving style of the supermodified. I feel stable and trust the car so much more than I do with the sprint car. I had that exact same feeling when I ran the Focus midgets. I could put that car wherever I wanted, and I knew it would stick. As soon as I was in the super that first hot lap session, I went second quick because it had that exact same feeling.”
The Bullring is a track that Waters has had a love-hate relationship with. She has had success in the past, but it is also the site of one of her worst wrecks early in her career running a midget. But she appears upbeat as race weekend nears.
“It would really be cool to win Rookie of the Year. It’s defiantly been unexpected. It gives us something to look forward to as we head to Vegas and hopefully be able to lock it down,” she said. “I think the line I will run will be similar to that of the sprint car, but I don’t know. With it being repaved it could change. There’s not been a lot of rubber put down on that track. I think with the repave it’s gonna be slippery. I’m gonna have to tell myself not to go into the corner too deep.”
Waters has goals for the race.
“We’ve been really talking about our goals for this race,” Waters explained. “You’ve got big blocks and small blocks in this race. It’s really gonna depend on corner speed for us. That cars never been on a big track and we don’t know what set-up to go with.
“Our goal is to figure it out as soon as possible. I’m hoping to make the race without having to run a consolation race. I wanna transfer straight out of my heat race. A top five or 10 would be our ultimate goal.”
