Katherine Legge adds 5 NASCAR Cup starts after disappointing Phoenix outing

For the first time in seven years, Katherine Legge was the first female driver since Danica Patrick to hop into a NASCAR Cup Series vehicle. She competed in the Shriners Children 500 at the Phoenix Raceway in March this year. After a qualifying performance that put the 17th female driver in the sport's history in 37th place, she faced difficulties on track, which caused her to bow out of the race to take 30th place. Now, it has been announced that the IndyCar driver will be making more appearances in the Cup and Xfinity Series season.

According to NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass, Legge will be starting at the Cup Series events taking place in Mexico, Chicago, Sonoma, Watkins Glen, and Richmond, driving for the same team she made her debut with in March, Live Fast Racing, piloting their #78 Chevrolet.

In the Xfinity Series, she will pilot Jordan Anderson Racing's #32 car at the races taking place at the Rockingham, Talladega, Texas, Charlotte, Nashville, Atlanta, and Indianapolis tracks.

Katherine Legge's first race on her schedule will be the NASCAR Xfinity Series event taking place at the Rockingham Speedway, 'North Carolina Education Lottery 250 presented by Black's Tire', this Saturday, April 19th, at 4:00 p.m. ET.

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Katherine Legge reflects on her debut NASCAR Cup Series race

NASCAR Cup Series driver Daniel Suarez (99) drives alongside driver Katherine Legge (78) during the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway. - Source: Imagn

At the race in Phoenix earlier this season, the NASCAR Cup Series debutant, who only found out she would be participating in the event 10 days before, spun out on track from 37th place in the second lap of the event but made no contact with anyone and was able to continue. Then, during lap 216, as she was running in 28th place, she spun off again, this time making contact with Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez, who was in 6th place, ending both their races.

Speaking about the Phoenix race, the British driver mentioned that she is determined to renew her reputation as a race-car driver and feels that her mistakes shouldn't be held against her.

“I know (Phoenix) wasn’t my best work. I made a mistake, right? I made a lot of mistakes during the race, tried to minimize them. … And then there was that one mistake that obviously ended Daniel’s race and cost me my reputation, which I intend to get back. But it was a mistake," she said.

“You see these guys making mistakes even when they’ve been doing it for decades. So to be vilified on one mistake, I feel like was really unfair. I am a damn good race car driver, and I will come back and prove that was just a blip on the radar,” Legge added [via NBC Sports].

Katherine Legge's previous NASCAR starts include four races for JD Motorsports in 2018 and one for SS-Green Light Racing in 2023, both in the Xfinity Series.