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The professional driver Katherine Legge has done a lot to make her mark on the sport with Auto Racing.
She has the record for the fastest qualification time for a woman in Indianapolis 500. She was the first woman to win an open wheel run in North America. She was also the first woman to be introduced in Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame.
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Katherine Legge signs autographs before the start of a NASCAR CUP series on Phoenix Raceway, March 9, 2025, in Avondale, Arizona. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb, File)
But the British driver revealed in a podcast episode that she received “death threats” from fans after she was involved in a crash during the NASCAR XFINITY SERIES race in Rockingham last weekend. The incident also involved veteran driver Kasey Kahne.
“Let me be very clear, I’m here to run, and I’m here to compete, and I don’t tolerate any of these threats to my safety or to my dignity, whether on the field or out of it,” Legge said during the episode “Throttle Therapy”.
She added that “the inappropriate comments on social media I have received are not just disturbing, they are unacceptable.”
Legge became the first woman of seven years to start in a Nascar Cup Series race when she made the pitch in Phoenix. The XFinity Series race was her second of the season. She was thrown into JJ Yeley’s car when she was bumped from the start network due to ownership points.
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Legge moved out of the pace of the race when William Sawalich entered the back of her vehicle and sent her spinning. Kahne had nowhere to go and ended up running into her at the bottom of the track again 1st. Legge explained that she was hit too hard, causing her to turn around.
As for comments on social media, Legge pushed back on claims that she was a “Dei rental” or something less than just a “gimmick” driver who didn’t really earn her place.
Katherine Legge is a professional driver from the UK. (AP)
“I’ve earned my place on that racing track,” Legge said. “I’ve worked as hard as any of the other drivers out there, and I’ve been driving professionally for the past 20 years. I’m 100% sure … The teams that dealt with me – without me bringing sponsor money in most of these 20 years – didn’t do it as a Dei rental or a gimmick or something else. It’s because I can drive a racing car.”
Legge ended in 36. At Rockingham. The best finish she had in the XFinity series was 14 on Road America in Wisconsin in 2018.
