On a race day ultimately demanding as much perseverance as endurance, British driver Katherine Legge became only the sixth driver – and first woman – in racing history to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s longest race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day.
A heavy rain shower forced the early end of the Coke 600 – 27 laps shy of its 400-lap scheduled distance to bring out the final checkered flag for Legge, whose No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet was scored 31st in the 39-car field.
Spire Motorsports’ Daniel Suarez claimed the Charlotte victory, dedicating his win to his former teammate, and longtime friend, the late two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who passed away Thursday after a sudden illness.
Despite her laps-down finish at Charlotte, Legge, 45, joins an elite and impressive list of drivers in her historical work in the Memorial Day “Double” in what was clearly an emotional and eventful day for both starting grids.
As happens in racing, the veteran had to deal with circumstances she could anticipate and also those out of her control. She was scored 33rd at the Indianapolis 500 after being collected in another driver’s early race accident, but showed great resiliency in answering that with her 31st place finish in the 39-car Charlotte 600-miler – only her ninth career NASCAR Cup Series race and first at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Legge joins an esteemed list of talented drivers to complete the Memorial Day “Double,” including Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson and the late John Andretti. The NASCAR Hall of Famer Stewart boasts the best overall “Double” day with a sixth place at Indianapolis and a third place at Charlotte in 2001.
“The opportunity to do it, the opportunity to attempt to do it I think is the highlight,” Legge said, promising that both her IndyCar and NASCAR teams would re-evaluate the opportunity, which was only finalized three weeks ago.
“We’re going to re-group, think about it, reflect on it and see what we could have done differently,” Legge said, adding, “At the end of the day, I don’t think I made too many mistakes so there’s positives to make of it too.
“I think it would have been a lot better [in the NASCAR portion of the day] if we had the car at the end of the race [to start the race]. We made it better every [pit] stop. I think that would have been a lot more fun.”
Rain ended Legge’s day early in Charlotte and initially looked like it would affect her race in Indianapolis. However, it was a competitor’s miscue, not weather that abruptly halted the first half of Legge’s “Double” only 18 laps into the historical 200-lap Indy 500-miler.
Former Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter Reay – driving a car fielded in part by NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club team– spun out exiting Turn 2 directly in front of Legge. She had to make a split-second decision whether to steer high or low to miss Hunter-Reay’s crashed car with the track covered in smoke. She nearly avoided any contact, but unfortunately her No. 11 HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet sustained just enough of a hit to propel it into the infield wall.
It eliminated Legge from the Indy 500 before her day had truly begun. But she was wildly cheered by the sold-out crowd that appreciated her historic quest and she acknowledged the support with a wave as she climbed into the ambulance for a ride to the care center.
A helicopter awaited to begin her multi-leg, multi-vehicle travel to Charlotte for the evening’s 600-mile test back East.
Speaking to reporters before leaving, Legge said the early incident was “desperately frustrating for everybody involved” because it was a situation completely out of her control. She and both her IndyCar and NASCAR teams had been preparing for a long day of competition – 1,100-miles in all – and instead, this first half of the doubleheader ended a scant 15 minutes after she took the green flag.
Still, the versatile veteran racer managed a smile and conceded she would work on “attitude adjustment” on the way to Charlotte because, she said, “right now I’m pissed, disappointed and now I need to get on the plane and get into the right mindset.”
It certainly appeared that re-set worked by the time she arrived at Charlotte. With only one previous NASCAR Cup Series start this season– at the Watkins Glen, N.Y. road course three weeks ago – Legge and the Live Fast Motorsports team were methodical and patient managing the Charlotte race.
Completing the day in two vastly different cars was no small task and it was appreciated by both those she was wheel-to-wheel with and those who witnessed the challenging endeavor.
“I really think it was a wonderful effort by her,” NASCAR Hall of Famer and NASCAR on Prime broadcaster Carl Edwards said after the race.
His fellow NASCAR on Prime broadcaster Corey LaJoie agreed.
“I think she should get more credit than what [she will probably get] because that is such a feat, regardless of what the outcome is,” LaJoie said, adding. “But she still made the attempt, so tip of the hat to Katherine Legge.”
