Katherine Legge: The first woman in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2018

Katherine Legge achieved a historic milestone that no woman has reached in seven years: competing in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

Driving behind the wheel of the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports, Legge made history as the 17th woman to race at NASCAR’s highest level and the first to do so since Danica Patrick in 2018. The 42-year-old Patrick last raced in the 2018 Daytona 500. 

In a social media post, NASCAR shared: “Making history one car at a time. Welcome to the NASCAR Cup Series, @katherineracing!”

 

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Highlights of the race 

The 44-year-old English driver made her debut at the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona. However, her race ended early after she was involved in a crash. She was in 28th place on lap 216 when her car spun out after making contact with another driver. As her car continued to spin, it collided with Daniel Suárez, who was in sixth place at the time. 

Legge also had an early spin in the race but was able to regain control of the car. She described it as a “rough start” but acknowledged the team’s efforts, praising the adjustments they made throughout the race to improve her performance. 

She said: “I think we were relatively quick compared to the field, so it wasn’t bad… We were trying to find some pace, and we found it throughout the race, but it was a rough start.” 

Moreover, in her first Cup Series, Legge focused on the positives, reflecting on the experience as a valuable learning opportunity. She said: “Baptism of fire. I think there’s a lot of positives to take from it. Obviously, there were mistakes made, but I learned so much, and hopefully I get to come back and do it again.”