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Forbes
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
How NASCAR Driver Katherine Legge Manages Death Threats And Competing In A Man's World
Katherine Legge has received threats as a result of her return to NASCAR (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty ... More Images) Katherine Legge will be the only woman competing in this weekend's NASCAR Xfinity Series BetMGM 300 event, and her return to NASCAR has sparked backlash and even threats. However, after years in the sport, Legge has learned how to navigate these challenges and others that may feel familiar to many women working in male-dominated environments. Legge has decades of experience on the track. In 2023, she became the fastest woman to ever qualify for the Indianapolis 500, and she has competed across nearly every major racing discipline, from IndyCar and sports cars to international endurance events. In March, she returned to NASCAR, making her Cup Series debut at Phoenix Raceway and becoming the first woman to race in the series since Danica Patrick in 2018. Not everyone welcomed the news, and some of the messages Legge has received since announcing her return to NASCAR have been disturbingly violent. She's been told to hang herself, to be assassinated, and to 'swallow a shotgun.' Others have posted sexually explicit remarks about her appearance or claimed she only earned her spot because of diversity initiatives. According to CNN, NASCAR is assigning a security detail to her upcoming races, and the sport's head of security notified local law enforcement near her home. Despite the threats and the negativity, the uber-focused Legge doesn't let it get to her. 'If it's not the opinion of somebody whose opinion I would ask for, I just don't pay attention to it. It's fine to acknowledge it, that it's happening, I just don't let it infiltrate what I'm doing,' she told me. Her ability to stay focused in the face of vitriol is a mindset she's developed through years of being one of the few women on the grid. Drawing from her experience, Legge shared practical advice for navigating high-pressure, male-dominated environments anywhere. When Legge ran out of funding to continue her racing career in the UK, she went to the headquarters of Cosworth, a company that builds high-performance racing engines. She insisted on speaking with its chief executive, Kevin Kalkhoven. Kalkhoven sent his daughter to persuade Legge to leave, but after speaking with her, she urged her dad to take the meeting instead. Impressed by her persistence, Kalkhoven offered Legge a spot in the first three races of the 2005 Toyota Atlantic Championship. It became her first full-time racing opportunity. Since research indicates that women are less likely to ask for things they need, I wondered what made Legge comfortable demanding a meeting with Kalkhoven. She revealed that she's not the least bit comfortable in those situations, describing, 'I cried on the way home. I felt physically sick. I am not an outgoing person, and I didn't want to do it. I knew that I had to do it to get to the end goal.' She explains, 'The only reason I've got to where I am today is because I keep forcing myself to do those uncomfortable things over and over again.' Even now, she says, she'll think, 'Who can I get to ask for this on my behalf?' so that she doesn't have to ask for things herself. It doesn't get easier, no matter how often she does it. But, she says, those things that make you uncomfortable in your stomach are typically the most rewarded. After more than a decade in racing, Legge admits she had grown too comfortable. 'I didn't have to do anything that scared me or that made me feel like I'm in my stomach,' she says. But stepping into NASCAR, where she has less experience, has reintroduced that edge. 'The only reason I've got to where I am today is because I keep forcing myself to do those uncomfortable things over and over again.' As much as she pushed herself, Legge says one of the hardest lessons she learned was to be herself. Earlier in her career, she tried to blend in with the men. Now she advises, 'Be authentic to who you are. Don't let somebody try to tell you to be a different version because it's what they think is necessary. Be authentically you,' she advises. That lesson extended to how she expressed her femininity. At first, she feared she wouldn't be taken seriously if she expressed her feminine side. So, when beauty brand e.l.f. became a sponsor and rolled out a pink car for her race, her initial reaction was resistance. 'I thought, 'I don't want a pink car. That's so cliché—the girl gets the pink car.' I hated the idea,' she recalls. Katherine Legge in her pink IndyCar (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) But others' response to the pink car surprised her. Women rallied around her, and she began to see it differently. 'Maybe being seen as a girl isn't a negative anymore,' she says. 'Maybe being seen as a girl is just that—I am a girl, or a woman.' 'I am definitely much more feminine at races now than I used to be,' she says. But when younger female drivers express their femininity in ways that once made her uncomfortable, she still has to pause and recalibrate. 'It still makes me cringe,' she says, 'and then I have to catch myself that it shouldn't make me cringe, because they are allowed to be as feminine as they want to be.' After years of trying to blend in with the guys, she says, 'It is hard for me to make that transition.' Throughout her career, Legge had very few female role models, something she's determined to change for the next generation. She believes strongly in lifting others and hates the idea that some women compete with other women. Even with limited support for women in racing, Legge opposes segregating women into female racing series. 'I think the fact that they segregated us in the first place is insulting, because we can race against the boys. There's absolutely no reason that we cannot race against the men,' she said. For Legge, competing with the best is the only way to become your best. Supporting women in male-dominated spaces can be as straightforward as offering encouragement when needed. Legge's sponsor, e.l.f., will host an exhibit at the race this weekend where attendees can record a video with an inspiring message for her, helping to counter some of the negativity she receives online. And it's not just women who are stepping up to support Legge. Some male allies in the sport, like veteran auto racing driver Marco Andretti, are defending Legge on social media. 'It's wild to me how many grown men talk badly about bad ass girls like this. Does it make them feel more manly from the couch or something?' Andretti wrote on X. Ultimately, Legge has one final reminder for women chasing their dreams: 'Never, ever, ever give up.'
News.com.au
07-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Best bets and value play for Pakenham Thursday night
A John McArdle-trained filly can post a deserved win in the last race while a promising stayer can make a winning return at Thursday's Pakenham meeting.
