NASCAR debutant speaks out after meaningful first race wreck

Katherine Legge has spoken out on her tough NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend, having come into the race on late notice.

The experienced British driver has spent much of her career in sportscar and open wheel racing, but (with a couple of Xftinity Series races under her belt) accepted a late invitation to this weekend's Cup Series race in Phoenix.

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Legge became just the third women in the 21st century, after Shawna Robinson and far-right activist Danica Patrick, to compete in a regular season NASCAR Cup Series race.

The Brit eventually classified 30th of 37 starters, officially finishing 102 laps down after a spin in the final stage of the race took her out of the race, when it took her into the path of Daniel Suarez.

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The No. 78 goes around and collects @Daniel_SuarezG. pic.twitter.com/X6qyKN8cuM

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 9, 2025

What happened in Katherine Legge's Cup Series debut?

Having only been given minimal notice before her first Cup Series race – having raced even in the Xfinity Series just once in the last five years – the 44-year-old was thrown about as far into the deep end as any debutant in the modern era.

Speaking to Fox Sports, she said: "It was [a] baptism by fire. I think there's a lot of positives to take from it. Obviously, there were mistakes made, but I learned so much. Hopefully, I get to come back."

Speaking about the late wreck that ended the competitive race of both herself and Suarez, she added: "I was so loose. I was hanging on to it. We kept making adjustments.

"We kept making the car way more stable for me. At the end there, I think we were relatively quick, so it wasn't bad. I wish we hadn't made the changes. It was a rough start."

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