“(NASCAR) cannot allow somebody with no experience to run in the Cup Series.” Daniel Suarez’s fuming emotions were visible in his comments after the Shriner’s Children 400 race. Katherine Legge, a 44-year-old English racer, spurred a crash that collected Suarez’s No. 99 Chevrolet. Although fans took aim at the freshly welcomed motorsports athlete, Legge pointed out a flaw in NASCAR’s system.
That flaw lies in the gaping difference between pre-COVID and post-COVID practice sessions. While the pandemic justified NASCAR curtailing the level of practice a driver can engage in, the sanctioning body had no excuse later. The wider Cup Series grid has a strong opinion about this – and so does Katherine Legge.
Why Katherine Legge was ‘thrown to the wolves’
Every skill needs a substantial amount of time spent honing it. The same applies to the NASCAR Cup Series. When Kevin Harvick extended a warm welcome to Katherine Legge, he also warned her that she was being ‘thrown to the wolves’. Legge armed herself in every possible way though. She competed in an ARCA event in Daytona, had simulator time at Richard Childress Racing, and drove a car in pit practice for Hendrick Motorsports. Additionally, there was a 45-minute practice session at Phoenix Raceway because of the option tire – but Legge was not there for the full session. All this preparation is barely anything compared to the earlier days of the sport.
Before the pandemic, NASCAR had an open testing policy that allowed teams to spend however much time they wanted testing around the country. Additionally, there were 2-hour practice sessions at the racetracks. Stopping all that has been the root of the problem, according to Katherine Legge. Adapting to the Next-Gen car is no easy feat, as she said: “There is no testing, there is no practice, there is literally one session before qualifying and then you go race. I understand making your way up through the ladder series, like doing Xfinity and trucks, but the NextGen Cup car doesn’t drive like a Xfinity or a truck at all, in any way, shape or form, it’s kind of its own unique beast. To get experience, you have to do the races.”
As expected, Katherine Legge‘s disaster was equally due to her lack of experience. Wheeling her No. 78 Chevrolet, she ran into trouble early in Phoenix. But her second crash was severe – she was struggling to control the rhythm of her car but fatefully understeered on a turn in the 215th lap. Coincidentally, Daniel Suarez was collected in it as well. That kicked off a storm of online controversy and unwanted criticism of Legge. “I was bitterly disappointed,” she lamented. “I got a massive backlash from some of the fans which was obviously not what I’d hoped for either.”
Yet the veterans of the sport rallied to Katherine Legge’s cause. After she called up Daniel Suarez, the Trackhouse Racing star was empathetic to her situation. Legge said, “Daniel was very sweet, actually, very kind and understanding. He was like, ‘Listen, I don’t blame you. Of course, what happened was less than ideal for me.’” Even Dale Earnhardt Jr bashed NASCAR for putting Legge in a Next-Gen car without the appropriate prep. “It does not help that she’s in a car that doesn’t do a lot of things right, and we don’t have any practice.”
Although it was a ‘disappointment’ galore week for Katherine Legge, she could glean one positive. The British racer carried an important symbol of pride.
Restarting a much-needed tradition
NASCAR has been known for a lot of things. These include owdy drivers in raging conflicts and heavy stock cars crashing into each other at 200 MPH. However, it is yet to claim a tradition of women racing in its ranks. For sure, there have been pioneers in the past. Sara Christian was the first woman to ever run a NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1949. Janet Guthrie’s 6th-place finish in a 1977 Bristol race marks the best finish by a woman in NASCAR’s modern era. Then Danica Patrick and Hailie Deegan obviously carved out a legacy – yet the tradition is yet to become permanent. Katherine Legge became the first female athlete to run a Cup Series race since Patrick did in 2018.
Aside from her chaotic on-track disaster, Katherine Legge can focus on the inspiration she offered. She reposted a video clip of young girls watching her race – and that feeling was fulfilling for her. “I never set out to be the representative for women in motorsports. I think that each and every one of us are individuals and we should all be judged on our own individual merit. But it comes with a responsibility, and so I try to do the very best job with that that I can…I see videos of young girls watching the race and thinking they can be anything they want to be when they grow up because they see a girl driving a racecar and that’s what makes it worthwhile, making an impact on those lives is really special, and means the world to me.”
Hopefully, Katherine Legge will achieve more in NASCAR. In that regard, all eyes are on the sanctioning body to increase practice time.
The post “I Was Bitterly Disappointed”: Katherine Legge Reveals Her Disenchantment With NASCAR’s Curtailed Practice appeared first on EssentiallySports.
