Katherine Legge on Her NASCAR Return, New Book & Diversity in Racing

In a career that has spanned decades across numerous racing disciplines around the world, Katherine Legge made her first foray into NASCAR back in 2018 with a part-time NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule.

After making another one-off start in 2023, she’s back for 2025 with multi-race schedules for both Live Fast Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series and Jordan Anderson Racing in Xfinity.

Her next Xfinity race will be this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 24, while her second Cup race — after her Cup debut at Phoenix Raceway — will come at Mexico City.

Frontstretch had the opportunity to interview Legge on Sunday, May 4, at Texas Motor Speedway, the day after her third Xfinity start of the year. She discussed her beginnings in NASCAR and her experience in it so far this season as well as the biggest highlights of her storied career and her recently published children’s book.

Stephen Stumpf, Frontstretch: Talk about how this opportunity in NASCAR came to be.

Katherine Legge: Oh, that’s a longer story. Basically, it was born in 2018 when I did three Xfinity races because a couple of friends of mine raced in NASCAR. Andy Lally being one, and we’d always talk about how awesome NASCAR racing was. I have obviously watched it on TV, seen a few of my heroes come over and try it and really can’t miss it being in the [United] States, right?

So, I wanted to try it. I did try it, and I had so much fun doing it. I raced Mid-Ohio, Road America, and it was awesome. I wanted to get the opportunity to do it again. And then this year, it kind of rolled around. And [with] not doing the Indy 500 this year, we have to give our sponsors the eyeballs and the kudos that they deserve, I guess. And what better place to do it than in NASCAR?

Stumpf: The Xfinity cars have mostly stayed the same since [2018]. How does it feel being back in them now? Does it feel almost like riding a bike and it feels like you picked up where you left off? Or do they feel way different than they did years ago?

Legge: I didn’t really remember it from years past because I’ve driven a lot of different cars between then and now. I’ve driven GT cars and prototypes and an electric Formula E car, and the I-Pace with Bobby Rahal. There’s been like a whole lifetime in between then and now. I didn’t really remember it so much, especially because the races I did then were also on road courses. It’s like apples and oranges, because the cars on an oval do not feel like the cars on a road course.

Stumpf: Racing on these ovals, what’s your progression been like? Have you felt yourself learning more and more each start as you go?

Legge: Yeah, it’s not been a linear progression either. It’s been tough, because I think I can drive a racecar relatively quickly, no matter whether you’ve got experience in it or not. And I think that we showed that my first race out at Phoenix, like I was a couple of tenths off the back of the field.

I can drive the car. It’s learning all the auxiliary things — how to take care of somebody, how close to race; what giving a lane means. In my form of racing, you hold your line, whereas here, it’s very lane based, having a spotter in your ear all the time. The terminology — instead of understeer and oversteer, it’s pushing loose and tight. It’s a different sport, and you don’t know what you don’t know. And that means that sometimes you’ll make mistakes until you learn it.

Yesterday was a great example. I did a bunch of pit stops and, didn’t want to do a bunch of pit stops; we had damage. So I did a bunch of pit stops, and every time, I learned something new. It’s definitely been a process. It’s the first time to most of these tracks, like it’ll be my first time to Charlotte too, and with no practice — especially here, I mean, we’re supposed to have what, 20 minutes practice? And we didn’t [have it] because of the weather [at Texas], so the first laps I’m turning in are in the race. And the guys at the front have been in this car for years at this track — at least two or three times. It’s definitely a baptism of fire.

Stumpf: You have Charlotte coming up; you also have the Cup race in Mexico City. How do you look at your upcoming races, and are there any races in particular you’re excited to go to, or are you just excited to go to all of them and experience it all?

Legge: I’m excited to go to all of them. I’m super grateful for this opportunity. I had never done superspeedway racing until Talladega. We tried to do Daytona in an ARCA car, but I lasted four laps before I was taken out in somebody else’s wreck. So Talladega was my first one of those, and I honestly never had as much fun in a racecar. It was awesome. It was so good, and the car was so good. The team gave me a great car, and so I’m excited to try all the things.

It’s a new world that I’m really motivated for, and I can’t wait to get to Mexico. I’ve driven Mexico three times I think, but each time in a different configuration. This will be a different configuration again, so it will be exciting to go and see that. And then some of the road courses — I know a little bit, but they’re actually all different configurations. So while I think I’m going to have a level of comfort, I probably won’t, because Watkins Glen is different, Sonoma is different. It’s going to be exciting, but it’s going to be a challenge, and one that I’m up for.

I mean, this is the most difficult form of racing really, because the strength in numbers, the strength in depth is unseen in any other form of racing. You got IndyCar, Formula 1. They’ve got great drivers there, but there are not 40 great drivers.

Stumpf: You’ve been all over the world racing in so many different disciplines. What are your favorite memories in racing so far?

Legge: Oh crikey. I have been very, very lucky, and I’ve traveled a bunch racing. Obviously, your favorite memories are the ones where you have good results; I think that goes without saying. But also, just like the friends that you make along the way and the experiences that you get to have. I think my life’s been very unique and different, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Stumpf: With all the disciplines you’ve done, do you have any that you’ve loved in particular, or is it just racing, and all of them are great in their own ways?

Legge: There are highlights of everything. If you look at IndyCar, you got the [Indianapolis] 500, but there’s also tracks that I love like Watkins Glen and Road America. And you look at sports car racing, and you’ve got Daytona and Sebring and Le Mans. I still haven’t done Aussie V8’s Bathurst [1000], and that’s like a bucket list thing that I probably will never get to do because it’s so far removed from what we do. But maybe I’ll go and talk to Shane van Gisbergen about it, see if he’s got any contacts.

Stumpf: I wish you luck on that. Also wanted to talk about your new book that’s being released, Kat’s Magic Helmet, that goes into your career, your repertoire and your beginnings. So just talk about the book, anything you want to say about it?

Legge: I think it’s a really cool time for me at the moment. I’ve got my podcast, Throttle Therapy, and I’ve got my first children’s book, Kat’s Magic Helmet, which basically follows my beginnings in racing. It’s my first go-kart races, and it has my dad in it. It was really fun writing it, and I have my best friend’s daughter do the illustrations.

So it ties all my worlds together. It was just a really neat experience, and I’d love to do more of it as well. And yeah, it’s been cool. You have all these ideas as a driver, and you have no time to do it. Everybody thinks that when we leave the racetrack, we get to go and lead these super cool lives where we don’t have to do anything. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. I mean, we lead really cool lives, but we work really hard for it too, and we’re working for our partners and our sponsors and our teams and studying, so we rarely get the chance to do the stuff outside of that because it takes away our focus.

So I’ve been very disciplined at doing these other things and determined to make them happen. Otherwise, I’ll just think that I want to do them, and then they’ll never get done. So I think it’s pretty cool.

Stumpf: The book also goes into [the motto] of don’t be afraid to try things. And as a woman, talk about how important it is for girls, young women, to have representation in sports — especially male-dominated sports like auto racing — and the impact that it has to see someone like you in there.

Legge: I think it’s important. I think if you see it, you can be it, right? I didn’t really have that in racing, but I had that in other things. I have no idea how important it is to them until they come up to me in later years and say it’s important. And I’ve had that from their parents and from themselves over the years. So I think it’s important. I never went into racing with that in mind, right? But you realize that you have a responsibility as you kind of go through your career.

And I of course want to leave a legacy. You know people before me like Janet Guthrie and Lynn St. James and Sarah Fisher and Danica [Patrick], even to a certain extent, they were important in opening those doors and breaking down those barriers. So I hope that I can do the same for the future generations.

Stumpf: What are ways you feel like auto racing and other sports as a whole can be more inclusive to people of all backgrounds?

Legge: I don’t know; I think it ebbs and flows, and I think times are changing. You see more women now running countries and companies, and I think times are changing in Europe. When I was racing over there, it was a very different place than it is now for women in motorsport, for example. And it’s the primary reason I came over here is because it was more open to having a woman or diversity.

And I think diversity, if it’s done because you’re the best person for the job, is a positive thing, and there’s been studies that have shown that it has increased productivity and revenue for companies. So why not do it in sports as well? I think diversity has been inside sports for a number of years now. It’s just that racing is one of the only ones where we can compete on a level playing field, because it’s not outright strength based.

Stumpf: Is there anything else you want to add to any fans and people that may be listening?

Legge: I think I would say I am up for the challenge, and I’m going to go out there and prove that I can do it.