For women trying to climb the ranks in NASCAR, the hustle goes way beyond lap times. It’s long hours, short contracts, and constant pressure to prove you belong. Hailie Deegan, Natalie Decker, Brittney Zamora, they’re all carving out space in a world that wasn’t built with them in mind. And now, Katherine Legge is stepping in with something few dare to offer: the unfiltered truth.

Women are proving their strength in NASCAR these days. Hailie Deegan is one of the newest names making noise in racing. She was the first woman to win in the K&N Pro Series and is now showing her skills in the Xfinity Series.

Natalie Decker is back on track after having a baby, proving that moms can race too. Brittney Zamora and Amber Balcaen are working hard in ARCA and smaller tours, earning respect with strong results.

Now comes Katherine Legge: from her early days in go-karts to racing in IndyCar and IMSA, she’s faced the kind of challenges that would make most buckle. Recently, she has shared hard-earned wisdom for the next generation of drivers, pulling back the curtain on what it really takes to survive and thrive in a sport that doesn’t always roll out the welcome mat.

Katherine Legge reflects on racing’s gender gap and the fight to stay

When Katherine Legge sat down with NASCAR to reflect on her journey, she didn’t sugarcoat the realities of breaking into motorsports as a woman. Asked about advice for up-and-coming drivers, she dove into the cultural shifts and personal battles that shaped her path.

“Hopefully the landscape’s changing because generations are changing. When I was 7 or 9 racing go-karts, it wasn’t the other drivers giving me grief, it was their dads, like, ‘You got beaten by a girl, that’s the worst thing ever.’ Times are changing, which makes it easier to be authentic. For the first 20 years, I tried to fit in, not play up being female, no makeup, nothing girly. You end up in this weird, uncomfortable world.”

Legge’s early days in 1990s British karting were tough, female drivers were rare, and parents, not peers, often fueled the negativity. She recalls adults shaming their sons for losing to her, a stark reminder that racing was seen as a “boys’ sport.” By her teens, the social isolation hit harder, with subtle exclusion from male cliques making her feel like an outsider.

Legge leaned into the changing tide, urging young drivers to embrace who they are. “You’re between worlds, you want a normal life, friends, but you also want to be like Jenson Button. Now, with sponsors like ELF, you can be girly and still race cars. My dad was everything, he instilled that I could be anything, but I had to wake up with the drive myself.”

She credits her father’s hands-off support for her resilience, pushing her to lead her own career without being a “karting dad” who micromanaged. This mirrors stories from drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Danica Patrick, whose parents fostered independence without pressure.

Legge’s work with ELF Lubricants let her embrace her femininity, a shift that’s helping today’s drivers like Deegan or Decker show their authentic selves without fear of being dismissed.

The mental game, Legge stressed, is just as critical. “You need a thick skin to drown out the noise. I wasn’t abused on the internet, just in real life. Now, with social media, it’s tougher. Build a support network, good friends, and confidence, that’s what it’s about.”

Growing up, Legge faced taunts and patronizing remarks, but social media wasn’t a factor. Today’s drivers, like Deegan, deal with online hate, making mental toughness non-negotiable. Legge’s dad taught her to tune out the criticism and rely on a tight circle of allies, a lesson that resonates in a sport where scrutiny, online or off, can be relentless.

While Legge’s advice lights the way, Natalie Decker’s living it out with a historic return to the Xfinity Series.

Another woman driver making waves

On August 22, 2025, Natalie Decker’ll climb into DGM Racing’s No. 92 Chevrolet for the Wawa 250 at Daytona, her first start since giving birth to her son, Levi, on February 5. Teamed with Josh Bilicki in the Wawa-sponsored No. 91, Decker’s comeback makes her one of the few women to compete in NASCAR’s national series after becoming a mother, joining trailblazers like Shawna Robinson and Jessica Friesen.

Her last Xfinity start was May 2024 at Charlotte, where she finished 29th for DGM, but Daytona’s her wheelhouse, she led seven laps in the 2024 season-opener for an 18th-place finish and grabbed a fifth-place result in the 2020 Truck Series opener, the best ever for a woman in that series.

Decker’s 44 national series starts, 12 in Xfinity, 32 in Trucks, show her resilience, even if her career’s been a patchwork of nine teams. Her Daytona record sparkles, with a 2018 ARCA pole and two top-fives in 31 ARCA starts. “February 5th, 2025 was the best day of my life and also the worst,” Decker shared, recalling the joy of her son’s birth and the pain of his three-day NICU stay.

Now, with her family healthy, she’s ready to tackle Daytona’s chaos, where her history of leading laps and running up front could make her a dark horse. Legge’s words about authenticity and support ring true here, Decker’s return isn’t just a race, it’s a statement that women can balance motherhood and motorsports, inspiring the next wave of stars like Zamora and Balcaen to keep pushing.