Katherine Legge reacts to Top 20 run in NASCAR Chicago Street Race

Katherine Legge made history at the Chicago Street Race on Sunday, becoming the first woman in eight years to finish inside the top 20 in a NASCAR Cup Series race. Kelly Crandall of RACER spoke to Legge after the race and asked her about earning a P19 finish.

“It feels pretty good to get that monkey off my back, honestly,” Katherine Legge said. Over the weekend, Legge qualified for the Chicago Street Race after beating Corey Heim. She was one of 40 drivers who raced at Chicago, and Legge started at 33rd.

“I made a couple of mistakes, but it was good,” Legge stated. “I felt pretty racy there at the end, and everyone had damage. It was complete carnage, but it’s just good to get the experience.”

The Chicago race was Legge’s third Cup race of the year. She competed in the Phoenix race and finished 30th, and she also raced at Mexico City and finished 32nd. Legge has also competed in five Xfinity Series races this season and has finished outside the top 30 in all of them.

Looking at Katherine Legge’s racing career

“I think it was way more stressful to qualify for it than it was to actually race it, honestly, once you get a few laps under your belt,” Legge said of the weekend. “We don’t get much practice, so having to qualify not knowing the car well when all these guys are in it every week, and having to learn the track on the fly – that was the tougher bit. Then I got to chill in the first stage and just find my feet, and then we got racy from the second one on.”

Legge competes part-time in the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports, a team that launched in 2020. She has been racing for over 20 years, becoming the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America in 2005.

In her career, Legge has had podium finishes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and has participated in races like the 24 Hours of Daytona. Legge is also one of nine women to race in the Indy 500. In 2023, Legge set the record for fastest qualifying effort by a woman in Indy 500 history.