Katherine Legge’s career resume gets even longer as she adds the Chili Bowl and the ARCA Menards Series to a resume that contains Formula E, F3, IMSA, and being the fastest-qualifying woman in Indy 500 history.
Born to Race: Katherine Legge
Katherine Legge’s racing resume is a long time in the making. She has a wealth of experience that spans over 25 years across various motorsport disciplines, including notable series such as Formula E, Formula 3, IMSA, and IndyCar.
Now she is adding The Chili Bowl and ARCA to that list. Let’s take a closer look at her already extensive and rapidly advancing career in the world of motorsports.
Making History:
Before her move to the States, the British native had already started making a name for herself by participating in several developmental open-wheel series in Britain, including Formula Three, Formula Renault, and Formula Ford.
She even started making it into the history books. Katherine became the first woman to achieve a pole in a Zetec race in 2000, beat Kimi Räikkönen’s lap record in 2001, and received BRDC’s “Rising Star” award.
She continued to create history as she competed in the Toyota Atlantic Championship in 2005, winning the series opener in Long Beach in her first career start to become the first woman to win a developmental open-wheel race in North America. She finished the season third in the championship with three wins and five podiums.
In November of that year, she became the first woman to test a Formula One car since Sarah Fisher in 2002. She joined Minardi’s final testing session at Vallelunga in Italy, completing 27 laps.
IndyCar:
After a two-year stint in the DTM Series and a year-long hiatus, Katherine Legge’s career went back to the States.
2012 she signed with Dragon Racing in the IndyCar Series, racing alongside teammate Sébastien Bourdais. The season was promising, but after Indianapolis, the team could only enter one car per race due to an engine change from Lotus to Chevrolet.
For the remainder of 2012, Dragon entered Bourdais at the road and street courses, and Legge at oval tracks. Legge finished 26th overall, competing in 10 of the 15 races, with her highest finish being ninth at the Auto Club Speedway in California.
The following season she moved on to race in other series but returned for the Indy500. Ten years later, in 2023, she announced she would enter again with Rahal Letterman Lanigan. This time she qualified 30th and set the record for the fastest qualifying effort by a woman in event history
In 2024, at 43, Katherine competed in all seven oval IndyCar races, exclusively with Dale Coyne Racing. She secured her highest finish of the season, placing 15th in the second Milwaukee race.
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IMSA SportsCar Championship:
Legge began racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship career in 2007 when she raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Since then she has been a fixture in the lineup making 12 Rolex 24 starts.
She began in a Daytona Prototype, then DeltaWing, and now has been in the GTD class since 2017, competing in Acura, Porsche, or Lamborghini vehicles. Her top result was a second-place finish in 2018, marking the closest any woman has come to winning a class at Daytona in the 27 years following Claudia Hurtgen.
Her use of GTD cars has not been limited to the Rolex 24; she has participated in the IMSA SportsCar Championship—GTD since 2017.
From 2017 to 2019, she raced an Acura NSX GT3 for Meyer Shank Racing, achieving four wins and 11 podium finishes. In the championship standings, she placed sixth overall in 2017, ninth in 2018, and runner-up in 2019.
After an unfortunate shortened attempt at the European Le Mans Series due to a crash, Legge returned to IMSA for 2021. This time she joined Team Hardpoints as the lead driver of Porsche 911. For 2023 and 2024 she has only appeared in 13 races for Gradient Racing.
Stock Car and Dirt Racing:
To add to her already extensive resume of racing, Legge began racing stock cars in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2018, driving the #15 Chevy for JD Motorsports. She would make four starts that season, Mid-Ohio, Road America, Richmond, and the Charlotte Roval. She would earn a top-fifteen finish at Road America.
In 2023 she would return to the Xfinity Series, making one start with SS-Greenlight Racing. Her one start would be at Road America, where she would finish 38th.
Now in 2025, Legge is beginning her racing year with the ARCA 200 at Daytona International Speedway. In the pre-season practice, Legge would a 49.619-second lap, earning her P13 in the session. A solid effort for her first time turning laps on a superspeedway in a stock car. Legge will compete in the ARCA 200 with Sigma Performance Services, in the #23 car.
But ARCA isn’t the only oval racing she will compete in this year. Teaming up with AJ Foyt IndyCar driver Santino Ferrucci, Legge will be running the 2025 Chili Bowl. The Chili Bowl is one of the premier dirt races in the world, attracting drivers from across disciplines and skill sets. Running for Abacus Racing, Legge said this to IndyCar media;
“I have driven some of the most technologically developed cars in the world,” Legge said. “When Brent (Team Principal) told me there are no rear-view mirrors and no radio comms, it made me pause a bit, but then I realized that it’s the same for everyone else, so I would just have to figure it out. I am very excited.”
Katherine Legge continues to define herself as one of the most talented women in motorsports. You can watch Legge compete in the 2025 Chili Bowl, racing action begins Monday, January 13th. Coverage is provided by Flo Sports.
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