It’s no secret that a father-son duo has dominated NASCAR before, but Katherine Legge’s story changes it. When she first started karting at age 9, her racing journey was far from guaranteed. Her father, Derek Legge, who worked building houses in England, made a remarkable sacrifice early on. He quit a heavy smoking habit, once amounting to around £12,000 a year, in order to fund the tires and other essentials for Katherine’s go-karting.

The act of belief and support gave the NASCAR driver her first real shot at racing and laid the foundation for her climb through Formula Ford, British F3, and eventually open-wheel and sports car racing in America. But now, decades later, Legge reflects on what really shaped her mindset and career drive. A month through that guided her through the sacrifices, setbacks, and successes of a long and pioneering career.

Katherine Legge on how her father’s early lessons

Speaking on the Driven Minds with Josh Wise podcast, the Briton recalled her childhood lessons from her old man. She shared the lesson her father taught her.

“It was more like, ‘Hey, if you want this, then you have to lead people into it. If you want to get up to if you wanna race, you’re gonna get up. You go and talk to that team.’ If you want to get sponsored, you go and like, nobody’s gonna do it for you. You have to dig in and do the difficult things,” she said.

Sponsors definitely go a long way in racing, especially to fund a career. Coming from a non-racing family, the 44-year-old driver really had to claw her way into motorsports.

It all started in 2004. Katherine Legge visited the UK headquarters of Cosworth, seeking a meeting with Kevin Kalkhoven, owner of major US racing series, including IndyCar, Champ Car, and the Atlantic series. At 23, with nearly 15 years of experience, the Briton was running low on funding and looking for an opportunity to continue a career. Earlier in 2019, she described this persistence at the time as “stalking” Kalkhoven to secure a chance.

Kalkhoven initially tried to send her away via his daughter, Kristy. But after a brief conversation, Kristy returned and told her father, “You ought to meet this person; there’s something different about her.” That conversation turned into Legge’s breakthrough. Kalkhoven offered her a spot in the first three races of the Atlantic series that season, and she went on to win three of her first six races. Legge’s introduction to racing had been more casual.

After seeing a newspaper ad for a local go-kart track in Guildford, she convinced her father, Derek, to let her try it. Legge’s talent was clear. The 45-year-old progresses through the same ranks as future F1 drivers like Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, sometimes even beating them. But as her career advanced, finding funding became a bigger challenge.

In the mid-2000s, the Guildford native moved to the US as her career gained momentum. Racing at Road America in 2006, she had a serious crash when a mechanical failure caused her to lose control at high speed. Remarkably, she walked away with only minor bruises. Legge tested a Minardi F1 car the previous year, but a seat in Formula One never materialized.

Instead, she built a career across multiple series: the DTM touring cars in Germany, IndyCar in the US, including the Indy 500, Formula, and a brief stint in NASCAR in 2018. Though these achievements were impressive, they did not quite match the early promise of the Atlantic series’ success.

Her Indy 500 qualifying record in 2023 is what takes the cake. She set a record for the fastest qualifying lap by a woman, with a one-lap average of 231.67 mph and a four-lap average of 231.070 mph. Moreover, this year, she became the first woman since 2018 to race in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving for Live Fast Motorsports. To have achieved this in a male-dominated sport is definitely commendable. And now, the 45-year-old driver cannot help but reflect on the lack of feminine voices in NASCAR.

Legge points to NASCAR’s lack of female representation

Ever since its inception in 1949, NASCAR has been overwhelmingly male-dominated. While a handful of women have competed over the decades, very few have made a lasting impact, and the barriers to entry remain deeply entrenched.

Katherine Legge recently spoke about this, saying, “I’m still learning. I’ve got people who don’t call me directly; they’ll call my sponsor or whoever and talk to them, because it’s still a boys’ club to them. I want to be taken seriously; like, talk to me. I’m the one doing the deal.”

Legge’s path in 2025 has been far from smooth. In her Cup Series debut for Live Fast Motorsports at Phoenix Raceway, her No. 78 Chevy made contact with Daniel Suarez’s car, ending the Trackhouse Racing driver’s run and igniting controversy. The incident led to a wave of online abuse, including death threats and vulgar messages which the Briton addressed in April, calling out her anonymous detractors.

Despite the challenges, the 45-year-old has delivered strong performances. She finished 19th on the Chicago Street course and improved to 17th at the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Across six Xfinity starts, she has demonstrated that she belongs at the top level. Yet, criticism has followed her, particularly for adopting a more assertive style similar to her male peers.

Her experience underscores how challenging it can be for women in motorsport. Yet, drivers like Katherine Legge continue to push forward, proving their dedication on and off the track.