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Female Driver Katherine Legge Makes NASCAR Sponsorship Announcement

Originally posted on The Spun | By Matt Hladik | Last updated Apr 10, 2025 3:25 PM ET

Katherine Legge is returning to NASCAR's two premier racing series.

Legge, 44, who made her NASCAR Cup Series debut earlier this year and has competed in five races on the Xfinity Series, most recently in 2023, has secured sponsorship for upcoming events on both circuits. In an interview with PEOPLE, Legge revealed she will be back for the Xfinity Series race in North Carolina on April 19 and will return to the Cup Series in Mexico City on June 15.

Legge, who on March 9 at Phoenix became the first woman to start a Cup Series race since Danica Patrick in 2018, will be racing behind the backing of e.l.f. Cosmetics, which has sponsored her for IndyCar since 2023.

"e.l.f. came on board two years ago for Indy. And then last year they decided to do it in a big way and we did a big activation and won a bunch of awards for it. They say that they stand for empowering women, and diversity, and they mean it," Legge told PEOPLE.

"They put all this effort behind Indy 500 last year and we made a massive splash. And honestly, it started a girl power movement within the sport and it was fantastic. It's been so meaningful."

ELKHART LAKE, WISCONSIN - JULY 29: Katherine Legge, driver of the #07 Blast Equality Collab Chevrolet, waits on the grid prior to the NASCAR Xfinity Series Road America 180 at Road America on July 29, 2023 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)Logan Riely/Getty Images

Legge will drive an e.l.f Cosmetics-sponsored vehicle at the Xfinity Series race at Rockingham later this month. She'll also appear in the BetMGM 300 race on May 24 in Charlotte.

Overall, Legge will compete in at least seven NASCAR races in 2025. Her first foray into the Cup Series, at the Shriners Children's 500 in Phoenix last month, did not go well.

On Lap 215 that afternoon, Legge collided with Josh Berry, causing a crash that resulted in Daniel Suárez, who was running sixth at the time, getting knocked out of contention.

“There’s nothing wrong with her. What is wrong is NASCAR,” Suárez lamented after the race. “They cannot allow somebody with no experience to run in the Cup Series. Plain and simple. “You go to Las Vegas, to a fast track, it’s freaking dangerous. You cannot do that. And then here, honestly, this is not a so slow pace. Like, I hit her, and I was running 100 mph slowing down already.”

Despite the criticism, Legge made it clear she would not be deterred from returning to compete.

“I think the naysayers are wrong, so I’m definitely going to go back and try again. I love the NASCAR paddock, and I see a future there – and anyway I need redemption now, right?” Legge told CNN.

We'll see if she can get some of that redemption beginning next weekend.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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