In motorsports, your talent and your skill can get you to places, but not everywhere. The other factor that truly shapes a driver lies behind the scenes. The people you work with, the culture you step into, all these things matter and define how far a driver can go in their racing journey. Some environments will push the drivers to their peak, while some could be a misfit and bring them down. Katherine Legge shed light on the importance of this.

Legge’s personal experience of the right guidance

On her Throttle Therapy podcast, John Wise asked Legge about the best race she’d ever run in her life. Legge was quick to respond, saying they’re the ones where you finish 12th or so. It’s about holding on to that form and position in the race. But she slowly shifted the conversation to how it mattered a lot as to who she was surrounded by.

“I came over here and I was isolated away from my family. I was so hungry to race and I landed with the best people possible. Raced with Polestar and Jim and Pam Griffith, and I lived with them in Chardon, Ohio. From the moment I got up…Jim was teaching me about diffs, uprights and suspensions.

“I was kind of getting an education in it and I was loving every minute of it. Just felt so much support that every time I got in that race car I wasn’t just doing it for me, but I was doing it for them too. They put so much into it.”

Jim and Pam Griffith, the couple own Polestar Racing Group, the open-wheel racing team. They gave Legge her first full-time break. With Polestar in 2005, she won her debut Atlantic race at Long Beach, becoming the first woman to do win a developmental open race in North America.

The fact that she lived a daily routine with them closely developed that sense of responsibility within her where she realized that when you drive, you just don’t drive for yourself. It’s also for the people who’ve invested so deeply in you.

This showed results in Atlantics. Every race, she pushed herself to the limit and refused to let anyone beat her. Basically, because of that environment, Legge says how she transformed into a much more intense version of herself behind the wheel.

“It was a whole different Katherine. That goes to show that the team that you’re working with and the environment that you’re in and affects you massively.”

Another team that Legge found incredible success was Michael Shank Racing. According to her, team owner Mike used to micromanage everything.

“He made sure every single thing was perfect and everyone was held accountable. His work ethic was impeccable and so I had the same kind of experience there as well. I told him it was almost like daddy issues because I wanted to make him happy.”

Legge described how she desperately felt the need to get that validation from him. This rounded it back to the point that Legge made, of how we hold ourselves to the standard of the people around us.

In light of this, Legge also commented on the privileged vs unprivileged in NASCAR, and how the driver mindset plays a role in it.

Legge’s nepotism take

“I think that if you’re giving it on a plate, then it doesn’t mean as much to you, cause you didn’t have to do as much. and I definitely see that in a lot of drivers.”

It’s clear that she feels just because one comes from a racing family, doesn’t mean you are bound to achieve the same level of success.

But she does acknowledge how slowly that’s changing.

“Although now I will also say it seems like the ones who are getting it on a plate are doing really well because they kind of appreciate what they’ve got.

“It’s fascinating to think about the psyche that goes on behind because in all sports, there’s a psychologist that specializes in that sport, but in racing, there really hasn’t been up until now,” she added.

This shows how money and other privileges will help you get the ease of access. But ultimately, the mental game has to be strong, and that’s what builds all the qualities necessary to squeeze the best out of every opportunity that comes your way.