NASCAR's Katherine Legge says she
has been receiving death threats after Xfinity crash at Rockingham
[April 23, 2025]
By DAVE SKRETTA
NASCAR driver Katherine Legge said she has been receiving “hate
mail” and “death threats” from auto racing fans after she was
involved in a crash that collected veteran driver Kasey Kahne during
the Xfinity Series race last weekend at Rockingham.
Legge, who has started four Indy 500s but is a relative novice in
stock cars, added during Tuesday's episode of her “Throttle Therapy”
podcast that “the inappropriate social media comments I've received
aren't just disturbing, they are unacceptable.”
“Let me be very clear,” the British driver said, “I'm here to race
and I'm here to compete, and I won't tolerate any of these threats
to my safety or to my dignity, whether that's on track or off of
it.”
Legge became the first woman in seven years to start a Cup Series
race earlier this year at Phoenix. But her debut in NASCAR's top
series ended when Legge, who had already spun once, was involved in
another spin and collected Daniel Suarez.
Her next start was the lower-level Xfinity race in Rockingham, North
Carolina, last Saturday. Legge was good enough to make the field on
speed but was bumped off the starting grid because of ownership
points. Ultimately, she was able to take J.J. Yeley's seat in the
No. 53 car for Joey Gase Motorsports, which had to scramble at the
last minute to prepare the car for her.
Legge was well off the pace as the leaders were lapping her, and
when she entered Turn 1, William Sawalich got into the back of her
car. That sent Legge spinning, and Kahne had nowhere to go, running
into her along the bottom of the track.
“I gave (Sawalich) a lane and the reason the closing pace looks so
high isn’t because I braked mid-corner. I didn’t. I stayed on my
line, stayed doing my speed, which obviously isn’t the speed of the
leaders because they’re passing me,” Legge said. “He charged in a
bit too hard, which is the speed difference you see. He understeered
up a lane and into me, which spun me around.”
The 44-year-old Legge has experience in a variety of cars across
numerous series. She made seven IndyCar starts for Dale Coyne Racing
last year, and she has raced for several teams over more than a
decade in the IMSA SportsCar series.
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Driver Katherine Legge signs autographs before the start of a NASCAR
Cup Series at Phoenix Raceway, Sunday, March 9, 2025, in Avondale,
Ariz. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb, File)
She has dabbled in NASCAR in the past, too,
starting four Xfinity races during the 2018 season and another two
years ago.
“I have earned my seat on that race track," Legge said. "I’ve worked
just as hard as any of the other drivers out there, and I’ve been
racing professionally for the last 20 years. I’m 100 percent sure
that the ... the teams that employed me — without me bringing any
sponsorship money for the majority of those 20 years — did not do so
as a DEI hire, or a gimmick, or anything else. It’s because I can
drive a race car.”
Legge believes the vitriol she has received on social media is
indicative of a larger issue with women in motorsports.
“Luckily,” she said, “I have been in tougher battles than you guys
in the comment sections.”
Legge has received plenty of support from those in the racing
community. IndyCar driver Marco Andretti clapped back at one critic
on social media who called Legge “unproven” in response to a post
about her history at the Indy 500.
“It's wild to me how many grown men talk badly about badass girls
like this,” Andretti wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Does it make
them feel more manly from the couch or something?”
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