On March 9th, at the start of Women’s History Month, Katherine Legge became NASCAR’s first female driver since Danica Patrick in 2018.
The 44-year-old British driver made her NASCAR Cup Series debut at Phoenix Raceway for the Shriners Children’s 500.
Legge has signed with Live Fast Motorsports and is driving the No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2025 season.
“Competing in the NASCAR Cup Series is a dream come true,” Legge said. “Racing stock cars has been an incredibly fun, new challenge that has given me a renewed sense of vigor for this sport.”
She is driving part-time this season, sharing the seat with B.J. McLeod, who co-owns Live Fast with his wife, Jessica McLeod.
Legge is sponsored by DropLight and Sherfick Companies.
“As always, I’m grateful for the opportunity to do what I love and I’m inspired by all the effort, preparation and behind-the-scenes work it takes to get here.”
Only sixteen women have raced in the NASCAR Cup Series since its beginnings in 1949. Some notable drivers include the aforementioned Danica Patrick, and Hall of Famer Janet Guthrie.
Multiple times throughout her racing career, Legge has driven on all-female teams, in series such as the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the European Le Mans Series.
Legge is also a member of the Women in Motorsport Commission of the FIA.
Formula Renault
Growing up in the UK, Legge got her start in British Formula Three, Formula Renault UK, and Formula Ford.
During the 2002 British Formula Renault Championship at Oulton Park, Legge took pole position.
She recorded a lap time of 1.19.292, beating the lap record of Kimi Raikkonen.
Following this achievement, Legge became the first woman to receive the “Rising Star” award from the British Racing Drivers’ Club.
Toyota Atlantic Championship
After moving to the United States in 2004, Legge drove for Polestar Motor Racing in the 2005 Toyota Atlantic Championship.
She won her first race, which was the season opener, on the streets of Long Beach. This made her the first woman to win a developmental open-wheel race in North America.
At the end of the season, Legge had secured 3 wins, 5 podiums, and third place in the championship.
In 2024, she became the first woman ever inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame.
IndyCar
Legge is a veteran of Formula E and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. She also spent four years of her professional racing career in IndyCar.
Legge started racing in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2012, when she signed with DS Penske (Dragon Racing at the time). She had a two-year sponsorship deal with TrueCar, as part of their “Women Empowered” campaign initiative.
Across four seasons, Legge competed in 19 IndyCar races. Over the course of two seasons, she raced in 28 Championship Auto Racing Teams races. She has seven top-10 finishes combined.
Legge is one of nine women to have raced at the Indianapolis 500. In 2023, she set the record for the fastest qualifying lap by a woman in Indy 500 history.
At the 2024 Indy 500, she drove for Dale Coyne Racing on behalf of Rick Ware Racing, sponsored by e.l.f. Cosmetics.
NASCAR
While Legge is a rookie of the NASCAR Cup Series, she has five races under her belt in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. She has raced in the Xfinity Series with JD Motorsports and SS-Green Light Racing.
She recorded her best finish in 2023 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, where she finished in 14th.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Legge would race in the ARCA Menards Series for the first time. She raced for Sigma Performance Services in the 2025 season-opener: the Ride the ‘Dente race at Daytona International Speedway. Subsequent to an early accident, Legge finished in 39th.
Legge’s debut Cup Series race was the fourth race out of 36 in the 2025 season. She was one of 37 drivers entered to compete.
Although she spun out twice and ultimately retired on the 210th lap of the 312 lap race, Legge made history on that Sunday, and is looking forward to her next opportunity to race in Phoenix, and continuing in the series as its first female driver.
“I think there’s a lot of positives to take from it,” she said. “Obviously there were mistakes made, but I learned so much and hopefully I get to come back and do it again.”
Featured image credit: e.l.f. Cosmetics
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