Katherine Legge scores NASCAR Cup career best at Chicago, becomes first woman in top-20 in eight years

Katherine Legge was the protagonist of a remarkable achievement at the Grant Park 165 NASCAR Cup Series race on the streets of downtown Chicago, where she became the first woman in eight years to finish in the top 20 of a Cup Series race — crossing the line in 19th for her best-ever result in the series.

Photo credits: Nigel Kinrade | NKP

Katherine Legge was the protagonist of a remarkable achievement at the Grant Park 165 NASCAR Cup Series race on the streets of downtown Chicago, where she became the first woman in eight years to finish in the top 20 of a Cup Series race — crossing the line in 19th for her best-ever result in the series.

With 41 cars entered and only four open spots available on the grid, Legge’s weekend began with high stakes. Five open entries were fighting for four places — and one would not qualify. Driving the #78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, Legge had to defy all odds to earn a place on Sunday’s grid.

The weekend got off to a challenging start when Legge crashed in practice while trying to find the limits of the car. But, with the help of the team's remarkable work and in a pressure-filled qualifying session, Legge delivered and displayed her talent with a stellar performance.

She took to the track in Group 2 and got faster and faster over the first two laps. Despite a small touch to the wall, she managed to put in the lap she needed, outqualifying Truck Series championship leader Corey Heim by just over a tenth — locking her place on the grid and silencing critics.

Legge has shown steady improvement in qualifying speed lately as she continues to adapt to the NASCAR Cup car — a type of racing completely new to her. With a resume that includes victories and a vice-championship title in IMSA, as well as experience in IndyCar, WEC, Formula E, DTM, CART, and even a Formula 1 test, the British driver must be commended for taking on one of the biggest challenges of her career by stepping into NASCAR at the highest level.

Her stock car debut dates back to 2018 when she entered four Xfinity Series races, earning a personal best finish of 14th at Road America. It would be in 2025, however, that she elevated her NASCAR effort with a debut in the ARCA Menards Series season opener at Daytona, followed by a part-time campaign in Xfinity.

In March, she made headlines by becoming the first woman to start a NASCAR Cup Series race since Danica Patrick in 2018, entering at Phoenix. She later returned for a race at Mexico City before taking on the Chicago Street Race — her third Cup start of the year.

After post-qualifying changes to the car, Legge was forced to start from the rear of the field in P35 for Sunday’s race. She got off to a clean start before a massive pileup triggered by the #77 of Carson Hocevar, which then collected Dillon, Keselowski, Suarez, Gilliland, Bilicki, and Byron. Legge navigated through the chaos unscathed and was up to P31 as the red flag came out.

Once the pits opened on lap 5, Legge came in for service and rejoined in P32. When the race resumed, she gained back positions as other cars pitted and climbed back to P30. Running consistent lap times in the 1:33.6 range, she settled in that position and kept Suarez behind her.

She advanced further, running as high as P22 during the stint and ended the first stage in P25. During the stage caution, Legge pitted for fuel and tyres, while facing some radio issues. She rejoined in P27 and held steady in 28th over the next laps while running consistent 1:34s. A caution was triggered when Josh Berry was spun into the wall, and Legge was now up to 26th.

Continuing her strong run, she climbed to P24 before a spin on lap 40 sent her into the barriers. Fortunately, she managed to get going again and pitted while staying on the lead lap — with the second stage break approaching soon. She rejoined in P30, and when the caution ended Stage 2, Legge was able to catch the back of the pack. The team assessed the damage and confirmed the car was fine, allowing her to rejoin P28 for the final stage.

When the race resumed for the final 28-lap segment, Legge advanced to 27th and showed pace quicker than the car ahead. As several cars made pit stops, she steadily climbed to P24 and cycled up to P22 by lap 56. Running just a few tenths behind Zane Smith, she looked poised for more gains before a caution was called with 16 laps to go due to an emergency vehicle on track.

Legge pitted for four new tyres and fuel along with many others and rejoined in P27. At the restart, several incidents played in her favour — as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano made contact and dropped down the order, Legge moved up to P25. More chaos ensued, and Legge avoided it perfectly to climb up to P21 as another caution neutralized the race again.

With nine laps to go, the race restarted, and Legge was up to P20. As more contact unfolded ahead, she took evasive action and momentarily dropped to P22, but quickly regained P21. When Christopher Bell spun in the closing stages, Legge picked up another position, breaking into the top 20 once more with just three laps to go.

On strong and consistent lap times, Legge continued to push: on the final lap, Cody Ware hit the barriers, and Legge picked up one final position — crossing the finish line in 19th as the race ended under caution.

The result marked Legge’s career best in the NASCAR Cup Series and the first top-20 finish by a woman in the series since Danica Patrick’s 17th place at Texas Motor Speedway in 2017. It was a highly positive race for Legge, who put her road racing experience to good use on the tricky Chicago street circuit and demonstrated she is steadily getting up to speed with the NASCAR Cup car.

With momentum now on her side, Katherine Legge will aim to carry this form into next weekend’s event at Sonoma Raceway.