Legge hoping for uneventful Cup Series debut at Phoenix
Yesterday at 04:24 PM
Katherine Legge is keeping things simple for her NASCAR Cup Series debut Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
Legge wants to accomplish the basics — finishing the race after all 312 laps. Phoenix Raceway, at one mile, will be the biggest oval Legge has competed on in NASCAR, with her other being Richmond Raceway (0.750-mile) in the Xfinity Series.
From there, she’ll simply just be trying to not be a negative story. If all of that comes together as Legge hopes, she’s looking forward to it leading to additional opportunities down the road.
"I want to do a good job minimizing mistakes," Legge said. "Everybody makes mistakes, but I really want to minimize them. I want to stay out of trouble, show respect, and prove that I belong. I think if I can do those things, then I'll get the opportunity to do more.
" any expectation that we're going to go out and be competitive. I think if I finish anything but last, it would be a win for us, honestly, because I don't have the experience that any of these guys have. I don't have a car that's capable of going and running at the front, so hopefully we can develop me and the car and everything else at the same time, and we can get there."
Live Fast Motorsports is not a full-time team. The single-car operation from B.J. and Jessica McLeod competes for the love of the sport, with the admission that they are building toward accomplishing what is realistically competitive for their budget.
The deal for Legge to make her debut with Live Fast came together in about 10 days. She admitted she would have been more comfortable at Circuit of The Americas, the road course the series competed on a week ago, but it wasn't possible to put something together in the timeframe they were working within. NASCAR approved Legge to run at Phoenix since it is a shorter oval.
Legge did simulator work with Chevrolet before her debut and was on the Hendrick Motorsports campus to drive the car for pit stop practice. She also credited Richard Childress Racing and Kaulig Racing for aiding in other parts of her preparation.
"I feel super well supported and as prepared as I possibly can be having never driven on an oval like this a Next Gen car," Legge said. "I've done a handful of stock car races in my career, so I feel like I'm either going to sink or swim, but everybody has given me the best possible opportunity to go out there and do a good job."
Unfortunately, there is one wish Legge will not get this weekend.
"I'm going to admit this, and I probably shouldn't use these words, but I'm going to anyway," Legge said with a smile when asked if her debut was meant to coincide with Women's History Month. "I said, 'I'm going to fly under the radar for my first Cup race. Nobody is going to notice. We'll just be in the back. We'll chill. We'll get NASCAR permission.' Then somebody was like, ‘It's International Women's Day on Saturday,’ and I said, 'Oh, .' There is no way I'm flying under radar."
