Katherine Legge becomes first ever woman to start both Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600, finishes P31 in Charlotte

Katherine Legge took the chequered flag to complete the second half of her historic “Double” attempt at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, still achieving a significant moment in motorsport history by becoming the first woman ever to start both races on the same day.

Photo credits: David Jensen/Getty Images

Just hours after her Indianapolis 500 came to a heartbreaking early end, Katherine Legge returned to action for the second half of her historic “Double” attempt at the legendary Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. While an unavoidable crash in Indianapolis had denied her the opportunity to complete all 1,100 miles in a single day, Legge still achieved a significant moment in motorsport history by becoming the first woman ever to start both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

The challenge facing Legge was immense. After the emotional disappointment of the Indy 500 accident to no fault of her own, she had only a few hours to regroup, travel to Charlotte, a track she had never raced on before, and adapt from an IndyCar to a NASCAR Cup Series stock car - two vastly different machines demanding completely different driving styles. Nevertheless, the British racer pressed on, determined to complete as much of the historic challenge as possible.

Driving the #78 Live Fast Motorsport Chevrolet, backed by e.l.f. Cosmetics, Legge entered the weekend with qualifying ultimately washed out by rain, meaning she would line up from 37th position for one of NASCAR’s longest and most demanding races.

When the green flag waved at Charlotte, Legge slotted into P38 in the opening laps. The car immediately proved difficult to handle, with Legge reporting that it felt extremely loose in the early stages of the race. She eventually lost the draft from the cars ahead and settled into a rhythm while battling around Timmy Hill, running only a few tenths behind as she searched for confidence in the tricky conditions.

Despite the handling struggles, Legge gradually began improving her pace and building consistency. The first caution of the night arrived on lap 33 when Josh Berry spun in the #21 machine. Under yellow, Legge headed to pit lane for four fresh tyres, fuel, and significant setup adjustments aimed at making the car more manageable over the long runs.

Back under green, Legge resumed in P39 and immediately began showing improvement, lowering her personal best lap time into the 30.9-second range. As the opening stage progressed, another major caution interrupted the race on lap 53 when Austin Cindric spun and was heavily collected by Connor Zilisch in a sizeable crash.

Legge once again used the caution strategically, returning to pit lane for another round of adjustments alongside four tyres and fuel. The changes appeared to work: once the race restarted on lap 59, Legge climbed back to P37 and gained another position when Bubba Wallace was forced to pit with damage.

Most importantly, Legge reported that the car felt better to drive. Her pace improved significantly as she set a new best lap of 30.817 seconds and settled into a much stronger rhythm. Although Carson Hocevar briefly passed her on fresher tyres, Legge kept cool and quickly returned to competitive pace.

As the field approached the end of Stage 1, another caution emerged after Chase Elliott crashed with ten laps remaining. Legge, running P36 at the time, found herself battling the #66 of Timmy Hill for the free pass position. Choosing to stay out during the caution, she restarted ahead of Hill for the final six laps of the stage.

Legge completed the opening stage in P35. Although Hocevar’s penalty ultimately prevented her from regaining a lap, she remained just one lap down and continued fighting to stay in contention. Another pit stop followed during the stage caution, with Legge rejoining still directly racing Hill in the battle to return to the lead lap.

Photo credits: Krista Jasso/Getty Images

At the restart, the mission was staying ahead of Hill and maintain enough pace to capitalize on any future caution opportunities. Legge responded with one of her strongest runs of the evening, building a comfortable margin over the cars behind and establishing a very respectable long-run pace.

By the midpoint of Stage 2, green-flag pit stops began cycling through the field. Legge brought the #78 Chevrolet down pit road on lap 148, rejoining once again in P35. As darkness fully settled over Charlotte and the lights illuminated the speedway, Legge’s pace remained encouragingly competitive. At several points during the long green-flag runs, the leading pack were not gaining significantly on her, in a testament to the improvements made throughout the night.

An uninterrupted second stage allowed Legge to continue building confidence in the car, and she completed Stage 2 in P35 with especially solid long-run speed.

At the conclusion of the stage break, the race was briefly red-flagged before returning to caution conditions ahead of the final 200 laps. Legge pitted once more under yellow and lined up P35 for the restart with 193 laps remaining.

Unfortunately, disaster struck almost immediately once the race resumed. As the field accelerated back to green, an issue caused the right-front wheel on Legge’s #78 machine to come loose. Forced to limp the damaged car back to pit lane, the team fitted a new tyre and sent her back out. An oil pressure alarm would force Katherine to return to pit lane once again the following lap. Despite the mounting setbacks, the Live Fast Motorsport crew remained determined to continue, sending Legge back onto the circuit eight laps down but still committed to reaching the finish.

Back on track, Legge once again settled into a solid rhythm. Running P36, she focused on managing traffic cleanly and maximizing lap count despite the challenges she had already faced throughout the day.

As the race entered its final stages, another sequence of cautions disrupted the race. Legge pitted again on lap 297 during the stage caution and resumed in P35. Following the restart with 88 laps remaining, Ross Chastain was caught in another crash, spinning heavily into the inside wall and bringing out yet another yellow flag.

Legge continued working through the attrition-filled race; additional accidents involving Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, and later Austin Dillon further reduced the field as the night wore on. Through it all, Legge avoided, kept it clean and focused on bringing the car home.

Her perseverance was rewarded as she advanced to P31.

Then, with only 27 laps remaining, the rain threat eventually materialized. Lightning and rain ultimately forced officials to throw a red flag, bringing the race to a halt. Legge sat in P31 at the stoppage.

The race was declared official, ending under red-flag conditions.

After a demanding and emotional day spanning two of motorsport’s greatest events, Legge officially brought the #78 Live Fast Motorsport Chevrolet to the finish of the Coca-Cola 600 in 31st position.

It was not the result nor the day she had hoped for after undertaking one of racing’s toughest challenges. Yet despite the misfortunes in both Indianapolis and Charlotte, Legge still completed 18 laps at the Indy 500 and 361 laps at the Coca-Cola 600 to write her name into motorsport history as the first woman ever to start both races on the same day.