Katherine Legge drops Indy 500 bombshell: "IndyCar has missed out tremendously on not having us"

Katherine Legge has announced that she won't be competing in the 109th running of the Indy 500 on May 25 this year. For weeks, there was speculation about her being the 35th entry at the "Greatest Spectacle of Racing".

A total of 33 drivers were locked in before the start of the 2025 season and in March, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced the return of two-time winner Takuma Sato. On Tuesday (April 15), Legge announced the expansion of her NASCAR schedule, adding Cup and Xfinity Series races to her calendar.

On her podcast named Throttle Therapy with Katherine Legge, the 44-year-old explained how the NASCAR expansion stemmed from getting no competitive entry on the 2025 Indy 500 grid. Speaking about how IndyCar has suffered a big miss by not having her on the grid at the fabled race, Legge said [24:40 onwards]:

"This is probably not gonna go down well, but I am gonna say it anyway. I think the pivot we'll talk about now that we're doing to NASCAR this year and not being able to get a car for the (Indy) 500... because we were planning on going back (to the Indy 500), we wanted to go back, we wanted to do it. I think Indy have missed out tremendously on not having us there."

"It's not about me. It's about us, it's about that unity, and it's about saying there was anyone... now there aren't gonna be any (women drivers) on the track this year. We've gone elsewhere because we had to and I don't know how to say it, but they're gonna get a lot of stick from a lot of fans and they're gonna think that they missed out. Hopefully, we can be back next year, and they will realize that."

Katherine Legge made her NASCAR Cup Series debut on March 9 this year at the Shriner's Children 500 at Phoenix Raceway. She became the first female driver since Danica Patrick in 2018 to race in the series. However, it was a day to forget for the British driver, as she DNFed after spinning and colliding with Daniel Suarez, drawing a load of criticism.

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Katherine Legge was hopeful of an Indy 500 return after her "most memorable" 2024 run with e.l.f cosmetics

Katherine Legge during driver introductions at the 107th Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Katherine Legge's participation in the 2024 Indy 500 was sponsored by e.l.f cosmetics, the same company that is backing her NASCAR efforts in 2025. She was the only female driver on the grid and e.l.f became the first beauty brand to serve as a primary sponsor of a driver.

e.l.f brought out the big marketing guns before the premier IndyCar race with an immersive activation for fans. It included limited-edition merchandise, a pit crew of "glow-up" artists, a DJ, and the first Indy 500 drone show with 500 drones. The marketing campaign won two CLIO Sports Awards in December and Legge called the partnership with e.l.f "the most meaningful" one she's ever had.

Her race was cut short by a mechanical issue on her No. 51 Honda, as the car started spewing smoke on lap 23 of 200. Legge competed in six more races in the 2024 IndyCar season with Dale Coyne Racing, with a best finish of P15 in Milwaukee.

In an interview with James Hinchcliffe for IndyCar's YouTube channel after the 2024 season, Katherine Legge shared her intentions of returning for the Indy 500 in 2025.

"I'm hoping to do the (Indy) 500 again. We actually have some really, really cool plans that I can't discuss with you at the moment. But it's gonna be a big year. It's gonna be exciting," she said [15:15 onwards].

Legge is set to drive in 12 of the next 18 NASCAR race weekends - with Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport in the Xfinity Series and with Live Fast Motorsports in the Cup Series. She hopes to return for her fifth Indy 500 attempt in 2026.