Katherine Legge

Early racing and Atlantics

Prior to joining the Toyota Atlantic series, Guildford-born Legge raced in several developmental open-wheel series in Britain, including Formula Three, Formula Renault and Formula Ford. In 2000, she was the first woman to achieve a pole in a Zetec race. In 2001, she beat Kimi Räikkönen's lap record and achieved a pole, and she was the first woman to receive the BRDC's "Rising Star" accolade.^{[citation needed]}

Legge's move to the United States came about in 2004, when, after running out of finances to continue her racing career, she visited the UK offices of Cosworth, refusing to leave until she had met Cosworth boss Kevin Kalkhoven. Kalkhoven sent his daughter to speak to Legge to get her to leave: after a brief conversation with Legge, she instead told Kalkhoven that he should meet with her. Kalkhoven then offered her a drive in the first three rounds of the 2005 Toyota Atlantic Championship with Polestar Motor Racing: this was her first full-time drive. She won the series opener at Long Beach in her first career Atlantic start.^[6] In doing so, she became the first woman to win a developmental open-wheel race in North America. Legge went on to take her second and third wins of the season at Edmonton and San Jose. She finished the season third in the championship with three wins and five podiums. She also received the Toyota Atlantic BBS Rising Star 2005 Award.^{[citation needed]}

In November 2005, Legge became the first woman to test a Formula One car since Sarah Fisher in 2002, when she tested on the second and third days (22 and 23 November) of the Minardi team's final testing session at Vallelunga.^[7] After she crashed after two laps on her first run on the track, it was decided to postpone the test until the following day, on which she completed 27 laps with a best lap time of 1:21.176.^[8] She was also the first woman to test an A1 Grand Prix car, on 9–11 December 2005 with A1 Team Great Britain.^[9]

Legge received the 2005 RACER Magazine "Most Promising Road Racer of The Year" award.^[10]

Champ Car

In the 2005–2006 off-season, Legge tested a Champ Car once for Rocketsports Racing and twice for PKV Racing. In February 2006, it was announced that she would drive for PKV Racing in the 2006 Champ Car season. In June, she became the first woman to lead a lap in series history, leading twelve laps at Milwaukee.^[11] Legge suffered a violent accident at the 2006 Grand Prix of Road America when the rear wing of her car broke; she was able to walk away from the car unharmed.^[12][13]

Legge drove for Dale Coyne Racing in 2007, and her best result in the series was sixth place twice.

DTM

In 2008, Legge moved to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series, driving for Colin Kolles' Futurecom TME Audi team. For 2009 and 2010, she raced for the Abt Sportsline team, who were the 2008 champions. For 2009, she was the only one of the five drivers in the Abt Sportline team using the previous year's car.

IndyCar

In January 2012, Legge signed with Dragon Racing in the IndyCar Series, alongside Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais.^[14] However, since the Lotus engines were shown to be uncompetitive, the team made a change to Chevrolet engines. But team owner Jay Penske could only procure one Chevrolet engine lease agreement for the team, so they could only enter one car per race after Indianapolis. Therefore, for the remainder of 2012, Dragon entered Bourdais at the road and street courses, and Legge at oval tracks, except for Sonoma Raceway where both drivers were able to compete.^[15] Legge finished 26th in points, competing in ten of the fifteen races, and had a best finish of ninth in the 2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Auto Club Speedway.

Legge participated in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 race as a joint venture between Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Team Pelfrey. She took her first practice laps on bump day and qualified 33rd. She ended the race in 26th.

In May 2015, Legge announced her involvement with the Grace Autosport project to enter the 2016 Indianapolis 500 race. Working with the support of the FIA's Women in Motorsport Commission, the all-female team set out to promote technology and engineering as a career for young women.^[16] The team was unable to acquire a chassis, and subsequently did not enter the race.^[17]

Legge entered the 2023 Indianapolis 500, ten years after her previous entry. She qualified 30th, setting a new qualifying speed record for female drivers (231.070 mph/371.871 km/h). She out-qualified her three full-time Rahal Letterman Lanigan teammates, and she avoided "Last Chance Qualifying," a session where drivers compete for the final three spots in the 33-car Indy 500 starting field. Ultimately, her teammate, 16-time Indy 500 competitor Graham Rahal, was bumped from the field at the end of the session.^[18] Legge suffered multiple mechanical issues and a crash in the days leading up to the race. On lap 35, she lost control, leaving the pit lane and hitting the inside pit wall. She tried to continue the race, but was forced to retire on lap 41.^[19]

For the 2024 Indianapolis 500, Legge drove for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing.^[20] On bump day, she brushed the wall on her last lap, but kept her foot on the gas. During "Last Chance Qualifying," she was the fastest of the four drivers fighting for the final three spots in the race. Her 19-year-old rookie teammate Nolan Siegel was ultimately bumped from the field of 33, with 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson and Rahal qualifying in the remaining two spots after Legge's 31st position.^[21] Her race ended when she suffered an engine failure on lap 23.^[22] Legge returned to the team for the balance of the six oval races that season.^[23]

On April 27, 2026, Legge was confirmed to be entering the 2026 Indianapolis 500 driving the No. 11 Dallara DW12 for A.J. Foyt Racing.^[24]

SportsCar Championship

In 2013, Legge left IndyCar to join the DeltaWing program in the United SportsCar Championship. Legge competed in the 2014 and 2015 seasons for DeltaWing.

Legge joined Michael Shank Racing in 2017 to drive an Acura NSX GT3 at the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

In the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona, Legge raced as part of an all-female team alongside Simona de Silvestro, Christina Nielsen, and Ana Beatriz, having placed second in class the previous year. She was placed fifteenth in their class after Legge brushed a wall and damaged the car's suspension.^[6]

Formula E

In 2014, Legge signed for the Amlin Aguri team to compete in the inaugural season of the Formula E electric open-wheel series.^[25] She raced in the first two races before being dropped for Salvador Durán.

European Le Mans Series

In July 2020, while participating in the pre-race testing at Paul Ricard ahead of the European Le Mans Series, Legge was injured in a crash, suffering a broken wrist and leg. Legge was part of the all-female Richard Mille Racing team along with Sophia Flörsch and Tatiana Calderón.^[26]

NASCAR

Xfinity Series

In August 2018, Legge joined JD Motorsports for her NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, driving the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro. As part of a two-race schedule with the team, she also competed at Road America.^[27] Legge later made her oval debut at Richmond Raceway.^[28]

On 27 July 2023, it was announced that Legge would return to NASCAR and the Xfinity Series, driving the No. 07 car for SS-Green Light Racing in the road course races at Road America, the Indianapolis road course, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval.^[29] However, she only ended up running the race at Road America after her sponsor did not want to be on the car for the remaining races due to their members' connection with the writers' strike going on at the time.^[30]

On 19 April 2025, Legge put up a qualifying lap of 23.397 in her No. 32 Chevy, beating five other cars qualifying times, but due to a lack of car owner points (NASCAR's Owner Points Provisional Rule) she was one of two cars bumped out by teams with guaranteed starting spots based on points for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway. Then it was announced that she would race the No. 53 car for Joey Gase Motorsports,^[31] in place of J. J. Yeley, who had already qualified the day prior, secured a 31st-place start. Legge finished 36th after William Sawalich got into the back of her car, which sent her spinning, and Kasey Kahne had no where to go on lap 52.^[32]

In her second straight Xfinity effort following a week that saw her receive death threats and throngs of inappropriate sexual comments,^[33] she qualified for the 2025 Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on 25 April by clocking in a faster time than 14 cars, including two of her teammates to secure her 27th place in the field. Before the race, NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps spoke to CNN about Legge and the abuse she had suffered, condemning fans' behavior towards her while defending her against critics who thinks she is somehow undeserving of her place in NASCAR.^[34] During the race, she became the fourth woman in history to lead an Xfinity Series race — and the second at Talladega, taking the lead on Lap 75, equaling Danica Patrick’s one-lap out front at Talladega in 2012. While running fifteenth on lap 100, she was collected in an accident triggered by Aric Almirola, who later apologized, saying miscommunication with his spotter led to the high-speed miscue. She finished 34th.^[35]

Cup Series

On 3 March 2025, it was announced that Legge would make her NASCAR Cup Series debut at Phoenix Raceway, driving the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports, where she crashed during lap 210.^[36][37] This made her the first woman to compete in the Cup Series since Danica Patrick in the 2018 Daytona 500.^[38] It was also the first time that the oldest driver in the field was a female in series history. On 6 July 2025, she scored a top-twenty finish on the Chicago Street Course, the best result for a woman in Cup since Patrick eight years prior — crossing the line in nineteenth for her best-ever result in the series.^[39]

On 13 May 2026, Legge announced she will drive the Live Fast Motorsports No. 78 car at the 2026 Coca-Cola 600 after the Indy 500. This will make her the first woman to attempt "The Double"; and at age 45, the oldest driver to do so as well.^[40]

Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

Legge took part in the 2024 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, driving an Acura Integra Type S DE5 in the Time Attack 1 category.^[42] She placed 27th overall, and fifth of eleven in her division.^[43]

Racing career summary

^* Season still in progress

Complete American open-wheel racing results

(key)

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key)

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

• † — Retired, but was classified as she completed 90% of the winner's race distance.

Complete Formula E results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

^† Points only counted towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup and not the overall GTD Championship.

24 Hours of Daytona results

More information Year, Class ...

Year	Class	No	Team	Car	Co-drivers	Laps	Position	Class Pos.
2007	DP	84	Robinson Racing	Riley Mk XI	George Robinson Wally Dallenbach Jr. Paul Dallenbach	596	25	15
2014	P	0	DeltaWing Racing Cars	DeltaWing DWC13	Gabby Chaves Alexander Rossi Andy Meyrick	288	61 DNF	17 DNF
2015	P	0	Claro/TracFone DeltaWing Racing	DeltaWing DWC13	Gabby Chaves Memo Rojas Andy Meyrick	42	53 DNF	16 DNF
2016	P	0	Panoz DeltaWing Racing	DeltaWing DWC13	Sean Rayhall Andy Meyrick Andreas Wirth	119	53 DNF	12 DNF
2017	GTD	93	Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	Acura NSX GT3	Andy Lally Graham Rahal Mark Wilkins	617	29	11
2018	GTD	86	Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	Acura NSX GT3	A. J. Allmendinger Trent Hindman Álvaro Parente	751	22	2
2019	GTD	57	Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing	Acura NSX GT3	Simona de Silvestro Christina Nielsen Bia Figueiredo	550	32	12
2020	GTD	19	GEAR Racing powered by GRT Grasser	Lamborghini Huracán GT3	Christina Nielsen Tatiana Calderón Rahel Frey	471	35 DNF	16 DNF
2021	GTD	88	Team Hardpoint EBM	Porsche 911 GT3	Earl Bamber Rob Ferriol Christina Nielsen	737	32	10
2022	GTD	99	Team Hardpoint	Porsche 911 GT3	Nick Boulle Rob Ferriol Stefan Wilson	672	37	10
2023	GTD	66	Gradient Racing	Acura NSX GT3 Evo22	Mario Farnbacher Marc Miller Sheena Monk	729	22	4
2024	GTD	66	Gradient Racing	Acura NSX GT3 Evo22	Tatiana Calderón Stevan McAleer Sheena Monk	368	49 DNF	19 DNF

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Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)