Katherine Legge feels 'passionate' about NASCAR transition

Yahoo

15 hours ago

Katherine Legge has raced anything and everything. Her storied career includes four Indianapolis 500 starts, most recently in 2024. She found success in sports cars, competing in multiple endurance classics, such as the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
With last month's Indy 500 not on Legge's racing radar in 2025, she switched her attention to NASCAR. It's a move that happened by chance, though she first felt the adrenaline of stock car racing in 2018, making four Xfinity Series starts for JD Motorsports.
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She fell in love with stock cars immediately, with a best finish of 14th at Road America.
'I loved it and wanted to do more, I just didn't know how to go about it,' Legge told NASCAR.com about her move to NASCAR. 'I'm lucky that my sponsors pivoted with me and we're all in on NASCAR.
'It was something that I felt incredibly passionate about doing. I have so much fun doing it and am so motivated. I'm working hard at it. I really want to make this home.'
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The joy for Legge in her first go-around was jostling the heavy cars around road courses. Her oval debut in NASCAR came at Richmond Raceway in 2018, finishing 28th in a 40-car field.
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'It's super fun to drive the cars; you were wrestling with them the whole time,' Legge reflects on her initial voyage. 'It's like Champ Car — we had to wrestle those beasts around the track.
'[NASCAR is] not easy. It's one of the hardest championships to chase in the world because of the strength and depth. There are so many good drivers over here that are widely versed in stock car racing.'
Legge began hunting for rides in February when the 2025 season began. She made her Cup debut for Live Fast Motorsports at Phoenix Raceway, though she was initially eyeing Circuit of The Americas one week prior as her first attempt. Her initial race didn't go as planned as she was involved in multiple incidents and contacted Daniel Suárez in the process, ending his day.
'It was a big uphill battle, but I respect the challenge and am not blind that it is a challenge going in with a team that wants to set out to be a entry to people like me into Cup,' Legge said. 'They know where they are at and what they want to achieve. It was going to be my first foray and fly under the radar and that didn't happen. I wanted to use it to gain experience.'
Katherine Legge smiles next to her NASCAR Cup Series car.
After bowing out of full-time competition, Live Fast team owner BJ McLeod wants to turn his part-time entry into a developmental ride to help rising talent. He's aware of Legge's credentials and hopes to get her acclimated, with their next opportunity slated for Sunday at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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MORE: Mexico City schedule | Cup Series entry list for Mexico City
'It's the toughest thing that she's ever come across,' McLeod said of Legge adapting to the Cup Series. 'I don't know that she would tell you that, but I can tell you that the group of drivers that get to do [Cup] every week are truly some of the best drivers in the world. All of them are that good. Not one, not 20, not 30, all 36 or however many are there. They truly are that good, and it makes it extremely difficult for her because even if she's equally as talented, she doesn't get to race every week. She is the only part-timer that's trying to get out there, get up to speed and she has very limited stock car experience.'
Chevrolet paired Legge with Jordan Anderson Racing in the Xfinity Series following her introduction to Cup racing. The goal was to get the England native more starts.
In addition to full-time drivers Jeb Burton and Blaine Perkins, Anderson occasionally fields a third entry. With limited on-track experience, he believes Legge has done a masterful job getting up to speed, even though the results would indicate otherwise.
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'I know she's been baptized through fire coming in this way,' Anderson said. 'With [25] minutes of practice, it's hard enough to learn a track, let alone a new car.
'The speed is there if we make her comfortable. I've been impressed with her time in the sim and how she adapts and the things she picks up, the time she has spent studying. This isn't a fly-by-night project for her; she's wanting to prove her worth and come in here and learn and do the right things.'
It was key that Legge diversified her schedule. She also wanted to run consecutively, beginning with NASCAR's return to Rockingham Speedway. She failed to qualify, but the team struck a deal with Joey Gase Motorsports to field her. She led a lap in her second start at Talladega Superspeedway and was running midpack when she was collected in a multicar incident that began towards the front of the field. She has DNF'd in three of four starts and failed to qualify in the series' most recent race at Nashville Superspeedway.
'It's been good, bad and indifferent,' Legge said. 'I have been taken out in every race in some form or another. The only one that I think was down to me was Phoenix, which started it all. After that, it's been a lot of carnage.'
Katherine Legge drives an Xfinity Series car at Talladega.
Legge is delighted that her two car owners are fellow racers with McLeod and Anderson. She has leaned on them, along with AJ Allmendinger, whom she's known for two decades, and Xfinity veteran Justin Allgaier.
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Compared to other racing series, Legge believes breaking into NASCAR is the hardest. She has limited oval starts and is going to new venues. The divisions are also stacked with established talent.
'NASCAR is especially challenging for the sheer number of good drivers,' Legge added. 'It's a tough beast to tame, but I'm up for the challenge.'
While overcoming multiple hurdles in Legge's short NASCAR stint, she has learned plenty about herself. She is up for any racing task, though she believes she was humbled in some ways.
'I thought that I was a lot better than I am,' Legge admitted with a chuckle. 'I have no doubt that I'll get there. But how quickly? I thought I would drive the car a couple of times and then be up at the sharp end, but it's taking a little longer than I anticipated.'
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The next beast for Legge to tame is the Cup Series' international debut at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez this weekend, again competing for Live Fast. Her second half of the season continues filling up, with Cup starts at the Chicago Street Race, Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and Richmond Raceway on the docket. She has a pair of Xfinity Series races left in the No. 32 car at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, though she is trying to bulk up her racing allotment.
MORE: Cup Series schedule | Xfinity Series schedule
The goals for the upcoming events are to log laps and gain experience.
'Bottom line, I'm not going there looking to outpace anyone,' McLeod admitted. 'What I'm expecting is to go there and give her a solid car so that she can learn and develop her skills and try to get her closer to reaching her goals.'
Legge hopes to go full time at some point in NASCAR, though she isn't shutting the door on running the Indy 500 again.