“NASCAR is especially challenging… a tough beast to tame, but I’m up for the challenge.” Katherine Legge’s words almost two months ago are now turning into reality. The British motorsports driver is taming the unique challenges of the sport by cutting down her gap from the front row in every race. After she beat Corey Heim to secure a Chicago Street Race seat and finished in a historic 19th place, the highest for a woman in Cup since Danica Patrick. Now, Legge has another laurel to boast about.

The Brickyard 400 was flagged off at Indianapolis Motor Speedway a few hours ago. It was a tight battle between the Toyotas up front, as Bubba Wallace delivered a solid fight to Chase Briscoe, ending with the #23 picking up his first win in over 100 starts. Yet another personal battle unfolded deeper in the field, which Katherine Legge won.

All eyes are on Katherine Legge

Well, the present day wildly contrasts with her first foray into the sport. When Katherine Legge debuted in the NASCAR Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway, disaster broke out. She crashed the No. 78 Chevrolet after spinning out and making contact with Daniel Suarez and finished in a dismal 30th place. However, three races later, Live Fast Motorsports now has a big reason to keep fueling her driving ambitions.

Katherine Legge rolled off from 38th place to start the Brickyard 400, hardly ideal in a strategic race like this. At Indianapolis, fuel strategy and clean air matter more than car quality and tire wear, and Legge made the best of that. What resulted was her beating brilliant drivers in the Cup Series garage. Katherine Legge brought Live Fast Motorsports a second top 20 finish after Chicago, as she crossed the finish line in a remarkable 17th-place finish!

Journalist Seth Eggert posted on X about how monumental this finish is: “@katherinelegge earned her career-best finish, 17th, scoring the best finish by a female driver in the Brickyard 400 since Danica Patrick in 2017 (11th). It’s the 4th-best finish in the history of @teamlivefast & the best non-drafting track finish.” In doing so, Legge finished better than heavyweight drivers like Brickyard pole-sitter Chase Briscoe and two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch. Jeff Gluck also wrote, “Big day for Katherine Legge in the 78 car.” 

This impressive performance at Indianapolis should come as no huge surprise, in all honesty. Being an IndyCar veteran, Katherine Legge has raced at these hallowed tracks before. In fact, she holds the record for the fastest ever qualifying lap by a female driver at the Indy 500, with an average speed of 231.070 mph! Of course, stock cars are an entirely different beast, but experience always helps at tricky tracks like Indianapolis.

This truly was a statement finish, as Katherine Legge could prove all her doubters wrong. After team owner BJ McLeod finished 16th in the No. 78 at Atlanta, he decided to try to continue the top 20 streak with Legge. And she lived up to her expectations. Now is the time to reflect on McLeod’s words about the mammoth that Legge faces and takes down. McLeod said in early June: “The group of drivers that get to do [Cup] every week are truly some of the best drivers in the world…It makes it extremely difficult for her because even if she’s equally as talented, she doesn’t get to race every week. She is the only part-timer that’s trying to get out there, get up to speed, and she has very limited stock car experience.”

What is more? Katherine Legge scored another accomplishment: roping in fans’ appreciation.

NASCAR community celebrates turnaround finish

Remember when Katherine Legge first debuted in Cup? Not only was it a disaster on track, but off track as well. After her slip-up cost Daniel Suarez a potential good finish, some fanatics put her on the guillotine. Legge faced an onslaught of ugly messages that ranged from plain dissing to death threats. Now, however, those vicious critics have fallen silent – to the delight of one fan: “All the people b—— about her are silent now. She’s been doing really good for that equipment since her misstep at Phoenix.” Another fan agreed with this line. After her wreckfest in Phoenix, Legge has finished clean, along with striving to move up front. The fan wrote, “Outside of the Phoenix stuff, she’s been solid. Good on her!”

According to the Brickyard 400 practice results, nobody foresaw Katherine Legge’s good finish. That is because she wheeled the No. 78 to a meager 38th-place starting spot. That is what made her 17th-place finish even more remarkable, as a fan said: “That car was way off the pace in practice. She and the team must have really made some progress because it’s not like there was a ton of attrition to allow a small team like that to finish that well.” Somebody else harped on Legge’s twin top 20 finishes in such a short time. That is a feat which many Cup Series drivers fail to do: “Two top 20 finishes in five races in the 78 car is pretty damn good tbh.”

What is more? Katherine Legge had four prior starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Those came at the Indianapolis 500 races in 2012, 2013, 2023, and 2024. Her best finish was 22nd in those starts, so she officially beat her record at the Brickyard. One fan reflected on her experience: “Not surprising considering how much experience she has at Indy.”

Clearly, a big day for Katherine Legge in the NASCAR Cup Series. With her next race coming up at Watkins Glen, we expect to see a swift climb up the finishing grid for the road course ace. What did you think of Katherine Legge’s performance? Let us know in the comments!