On Memorial Day Weekend, Katherine Legge will become just the sixth driver in the history of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 to make an attempt at running “The Double” — and she would much rather that be the headline than the fact she’ll be the first woman to attempt.
It’s not that the claim is untrue, but the fact of the matter is that Legge doesn’t think of herself as a female race car driver, but rather, just a race car driver. The Guilford, England-native has more than two decades of experience in different divisions of motorsports, including the NTT IndyCar Series, several endurance divisions, Formula E, and, most recently, NASCAR.
“Honestly, I don’t think of it as this huge thing I’m doing as a woman. I think of it as I’ve always thought of myself, as just a race car driver,” Legge said in a media availability on Fast Friday. “Obviously, it has been pointed out to me that it’s the first time that a woman has done it, and I think that significance there is only tied to e.l.f. Cosmetics, my sponsor. They came on board as the first cosmetics company to be a primary sponsor in racing, so they’re used to doing all these first things, and they don’t see any barriers to entry, whether it be racing or any of the female sports that they support.”
Legge will be partnered with HMD Motorsports and A.J. Foyt Racing for the Indianapolis 500 on May 24, and after completing that 500-mile contest, will travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, to drive the No. 78 for Live Fast Motorsports in the Coca-Cola 600… the logistics of which are daunting, and as far as the 45-year-old is concerned, above her pay grade.
“I’m in the loop on it, but as you say, it’s above my pay grade, and I do not want the headache,” Legge joked. “I have also tried not to put any pressure on the people who are organizing it. I have a wonderful team of people, but it is a headache. There is not much time. In between and it’s start, and I mean it started in Watkins Glen and the process of going through the race and getting back to Indy because of the banquet the next day, so we’ve got practice and qualifying the Saturday we’ve got to be back in Indy, and then we’ve got race day logistics, and if anything is delayed at all.”
Legge says that the PR Team that handled a lot of the logistics for getting Kyle Larson from the Indianapolis 500 to the Coca-Cola 600, albeit once unsuccessfully, is assisting her team in making the proper arrangements that will ensure that she makes it to Charlotte Motor Speedway in time for the 600.
Larson, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, attempted to run “The Double” twice, in 2024 and 2025, and will be a guest on Legge’s podcast “Throttle Therapy” this coming week, where the two will discuss the logistics and the little nuances of running two of the biggest races in the United States, all in the same afternoon.
The five-time Indianapolis 500 starter also made it clear to her team how important it was to make it to Charlotte for practice and qualifying the day before the 600, seeing as her on-track experience in the NASCAR Cup Series vehicle is extremely limited on mile-and-a-half racetracks. At this time, it’s unknown if there will be more than 40 entries for the NASCAR event, so Legge could potentially avoid the qualifying pressure altogether.
“I think on the Indy side of things, I’m happy there’s only 33 cars, because it does take the stress away on the preparation side,” Legge said. On the NASCAR side, hoping and praying and making deals with all kinds of gods, that stays the case, so we don’t have to stress about that on Saturday, because to be locked into both races would be a very lucky thing.”
Truly speaking, Legge’s attempt at “The Double” is extremely different from that of the other five drivers who attempted – in the way that she’s almost doing so as an independent, with neither ride being factory-backed or with a top-level team. Legge is confident in her HMD / A.J. Foyt team bringing her a fast car, but Legge cautions those watching on that equipment will likely make it difficult to finish in the top 10 in both races.
Plus, after she runs the Indianapolis 500 (and drives an IndyCar in a race situation for the first time in almost two years, which in itself will require some significant thought), Legge will then end up in Charlotte, where she’s going to essentially be drinking through a firehose, just making her eighth NASCAR Cup Series start.
“I think the stressful thing, or the draining thing, is trying not to make any mistakes, right?” Legge told JosephSrigley.com. “You know, I could get to the point in sports car racing after doing it for so long that I didn’t even think about it. I knew what I was doing coming into the pits. I didn’t think about what gear I was in, or what I was doing, or how to brake, or who the driver was in the No. 11 car, or whoever, whatever. It was just second nature, and it’s second nature for every single one of those Cup Series drivers. It’s second nature for 98% of the IndyCar grid. It’s not second nature in either series for me.”
“I’m hoping by the time I’ve had all the practice on the IndyCar side, it feels more comfortable. But, I’m still consciously thinking about things and your conscious mind can never work as efficiently as your subconscious mind, so it’s exhausting to think about not making any mistakes because you haven’t got that programming behind it.”
The key for the Coca-Cola 600, where Legge will be the most out of her element between the two races, is to recover well after running the gauntlet that can be the Indianapolis 500.
“I’m hoping that I can recover enough in between after doing the [Indianapolis 500] and doing the [Coca-Cola 600]. But yeah, the 600 to me is the one that I have the least frame of reference for. So, my brain’s going to be working overtime, you know, like I was in Watkins Glen and same thing, your eyes are out, so it’s because you’re thinking through all the things as quickly as you can think through all the things, rather than just driving, and I would love to get to the just driving stage.”
“Maybe sometime during those 600 miles, it’ll kick in, and I’ll be like, oh yeah, I know this. This is cool. But, I think that it will do my NASCAR experience and career a bunch of good because it’s a bunch of laps that I need, and so it will be programming my brain for next time, if nothing else.”
It’s the experience of a lifetime for Legge, who, between all of the on-track action in Indianapolis and Charlotte, plus all of the media obligations that she has laid out for the week ahead, will likely be ready for a moment of peace when the checkered flag drops in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 24.
Photo: Paul Hurley, Penske Entertainment
