AVONDALE, Ariz. — Versatile racer Katherine Legge will make her NASCAR Cup Series debut Sunday at Phoenix Raceway after a whirlwind 10 days of preparation.
A veteran of four Indianapolis 500 starts, many seasons of IMSA competition, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, the Chili Bowl and numerous other racing series, Legge will drive the Live Fast Motorsports No. 78 at the one-mile oval track this weekend.
Her preparation for the event has been a team effort on behalf of the Chevrolet NASCAR camp.
“It’s been a very intense lead up. I’ve literally known about doing this race for about 10 days, maybe,” Legge said. “I sat with the NASCAR folks in Atlanta and asked them what I needed to do in order to be licensed in NASCAR. I have to start on a short track, and so here I am. Very happy to be here. Very happy that B.J. (McLeod) and Live Fast gave me the opportunity.
“I’ve spent the majority of the week in North Carolina driving the simulator. RCR was kind enough to let me on their static sim, and Chevy was kind enough to put me in the DIL, the motion sim. Hendrick was really cool. They let me do pit stop practice and Kaulig has been super awesome, so I feel well-supported and as prepared as I possibly can having never driven on an oval like this, a NextGen car.
“I’ve done a handful of stock car races in my career, so I feel like I’m either going to sink or swim, but everybody has given me the best possible opportunity to go out there and do a good job.”
Legge discussed her diverse background in motorsports.
“I don’t know where it comes from but it’s definitely inherent in me,” she said. “I grew up racing go karts. I wanted to be a Formula 1 driver, but then I ended up in open wheel and found a love for sports car racing. I loved doing the Xfinity races I did and wanted to do more stock car racing. I got the opportunity to do the Chili Bowl, so I did it. It was really cool. It was a really cool experience. I figured the more things I do, the better I’ll become.
“Everything teaches you something, but I do feel I have one of the most diverse careers in racing. Literally, you name it, I’ve driven it,” she added. “I’ve driven Formula E. I’ve driven prototypes. I’ve driven so many different forms of racing. I feel like this is the one I really wanted to do that’s eluded me. I just love it. It’s in my blood.
“I think, you know how they say your job should not be your identity? Well, this is 100 percent my identity. I’m just a racing driver. I don’t know where I’d be without it. I love it so much. I love everything about it. I love the driving. I love the comradery. I love the competition with everybody else. I love the competition with yourself. I love the technical elements of it and figuring out what to do to make your race car go fast. I love the strategy. Literally every aspect of it makes me want to get out of bed in the morning. I just love it.”
Legge will be the first female driver to start a NASCAR Cup Series race since Danica Patrick in 2018.
“It’s disappointing that there aren’t more women in IndyCar, NASCAR, Cup. (In) Sportscars, there’s really been kind of a gap,” Legge said. “There was Sarah Fisher and Danica (Patrick) and me and Simona (de Silvestro) and a bunch of good drivers in that era. Then there’s been this gap, this lull, and so when I stop racing, or maybe alongside it but definitely focused when I want to stop racing, I’d love to bring up the next generation.
“I think there’s only a handful of us that have those shared, lived experiences, and I think that my experience might be valuable in helping them navigate it. Everybody says, ‘What’s it like to be a girl in racing?’ and I don’t know, because I only have my own experience. I don’t know what it’s like to be a boy in racing. So, I know what my journey has been, and I know that it’s gone for me, and it’s gone against me, and I know where the struggles are.
“I know mentally what you have to do to overcome those struggles, and so, I think, to me it just is I would much rather people just saw me as another racecar driver on merit, but that’s not reality and I’m not immune or blind to the fact it has helped me in ways too. I’m just going to go out there and be Katherine and do the very best that I can.”
She’s also leaned on long-lasting relationships in preparing for this moment.
“I think you’ll need to ask me that after a run on the track because I don’t know but I can tell you from the sim, it’s very different from one end to the other. I’ve got a couple of friends in NASCAR, luckily. I’ve been friends with A.J. Allmendinger for 20 years,” Legge explained. “We ran Champ Car back in the day, and I’ve got a good friend in Andy Lally who lives just down the road from me. So, I’ve made both of them try and teach me everything they know in the space of 20 minutes and sit and watch video and watch in-car and old races.
“They’ve both said how awesome this track is, and how the different grooves develop over the race. Andy was also talking about the black stuff they put down around the outside they’re not going to do this time, I’m not sure. There’s the dogleg that you can cut as well, and all the things. It’s just a really unique place and it’s a really cool setting.”
