A new challenge awaits: Katherine Legge ready for her first race on Daytona’s legendary oval

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Katherine Legge has never been afraid to challenge herself.

In a racing career spanning more than two decades, the 44-year-old native of Guildford, England has raced everything from sports cars to Indy cars to midget cars and even NASCAR stock cars. However, one thing she’s never done during her career is race on the oval at Daytona International Speedway.

If all goes according to plan, that’s going to change Saturday afternoon.

Legge is set to make her ARCA Menards Series debut in the Ride the ‘Dente 200 (Noon ET on FOX) aboard the No. 23 Chevrolet fielded by Sigma Performance Services. It’s the start of what Legge hopes will be a journey up the NASCAR ranks, a journey she hopes eventually ends with her competing in the NASCAR Cup Series in the next few years.

“NASCAR has always been, since I came to America, that I’ve been interested,” Legge explained. “I’ve got a couple of really good friends in NASCAR. Ever since I came over here (to the United States) in 2005, A.J. Allmendinger has been a buddy of mine. Andy Lally, who has obviously done his stints in the NASCAR world, too.

“There have been a lot of people that I have looked up to in NASCAR. It looks like so much fun.”

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This is not Legge’s first foray into stock car racing. She made her NASCAR Xfinity Series debut during the 2018 season, competing in four events driving for JD Motorsports. She made an additional start driving for Bobby Dotter in 2023.

Four of those starts came on road courses. Her loan oval start came at Richmond Raceway, which is vastly different than the 2.5-mile superspeedway she’ll be tackling on Saturday for the first time.

“I had so much fun when I did the Xfinity stuff,” Legge said. “I’m lucky enough that I get the opportunity to do ARCA this weekend. I am really excited about it. I’ve been around racing for so long now that I’ve done a lot of very similar styles of racing. I’ve done a lot of sports car racing, a lot of open wheel racing.

“NASCAR is kind of new to me. It’s got this shiny excitement about it. I’m just kind of like a kid in a candy store again like I get to go play with a new toy. I think it’ll make me a better driver, and I think it produces some of the best drivers in the world. I’m very keen to test my metal over there.”

This will not be Legge’s first time at Daytona International Speedway. Far from it, in fact.

Legge has made 12 starts in the Rolex 24, a 24-hour sports car race that combines part of the 2.5-mile superspeedway with an infield course to create a 3.56-mile road course. The event is considered to be one of the Crown Jewels of sports car racing.

Even now, nearly two decades after her first race at Daytona, Legge still feels the same level of excitement when she arrives at The World Center of Racing. It’s the type of excitement that only comes with racing at one of the greatest tracks in the world.

“Daytona is one of those places like Indianapolis, when you drive in, it gives you goosebumps,” Legge said. “When you drive down the road in front of the track, it gives you goosebumps. It’s a pretty special place.”

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Despite her vast experience at Daytona, Legge knows nothing she has done there will compare to racing in the draft at more than 180 mph for the first time.

“It’s funny, I’ve done thousands of laps around there. Like tens of thousands of laps at Daytona over the past two decades,” Legge said. “Not one time have I done the oval until we did the (pre-race practice) there. Not even under yellow, not even by mistake, by missing the chicane. Not once.

“Having watched two decades worth of Daytona 500s and now studied multiple ARCA races there, it’s going to be a totally new learning process for me. There is going to be so many things that I don’t know that I don’t know.”

At this point, Saturday’s Ride the ‘Dente 200 is the only ARCA Menards Series event Legge is scheduled to run during the 2025 season. If it does turn out to be her only ARCA event of the year, she hopes it will at the very least be a memorable one.

“Honestly I think the car is capable of winning,” Legge said. “I think if I can listen to my spotter and not make any mistakes, I think it comes down to a lot of luck in these races. It seems like you can be on the receiving end of other people’s misfortune pretty easily.

“I would say taking things I can’t control out of it, if I come out of the weekend having not made any major mistakes and driven the car to the best of my ability, then that will be a (good) result, wherever that puts us.

“I honestly think a top 15 is totally realistic, and I honestly think we could have a shot if everything goes our way.”