Insider roots for Katherine Legge’s success despite ‘mesirable’ return to NASCAR
NASCAR YouTuber Eric Estepp shared support for Katherine Legge’s comeback in the sport after her two straight disappointing races. The British racer had a tough week at the 0.94-mile track in Rockingham, North Carolina.
First, she failed to qualify for Saturday's race but took over driver, J.J. Yeley's No. 53 Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet. During the race, William Sawalich hit her car, which caused her to spin into Kasey Kahne. The crash ended Legge’s race after just 50 laps.
Estepp clarified his position on Legge’s success after NASCAR fans heavily criticized her recent performances and blamed her for ruining Kahne's much-awaited return to the sport after eight years.
"Legge and Sawalich both showed their lack of experience. Legge ran the leaders really close despite her slow pace, and Sawalich needed to be more aware of lapped-traffic. My point was simply that Legge's NASCAR return has, objectively, been miserable so far. Wrecks, DNQs, controversy. I'm still rooting for her to succeed. Her enthusiasm for stock car racing is awesome," Eric Estepp said.
Saturday's North Carolina Education Lottery 250 was Legge's first Xfinity race at an oval since her series debut in 2018. Legge did return to the series in 2023 and raced at the Road of America, finishing in 38th place.
"Bit unlucky' - Katherine Legge after early end to NASCAR Xfinity race at Rockingham
Katherine Legge also made her debut in the NASCAR Cup Series earlier this season at Phoenix Raceway, where she spun out twice and finished in 30th place. She has previously shared her plans to run 12 NASCAR races this year.
However, her start to the season has not gone as she had hoped. The 44-year-old commented on her crash and the early end to Saturday's race in a post-race interview at Rockingham Speedway.
"It's a bit unlucky, I mean there was not much I could do then. I just got taken out by [William] Sawalich," Katherine Legge said (via Frontstretch).
Legge tried to qualify for the Xfinity race in Jordan Anderson Racing's No. 32 Chevrolet. Her team didn’t have enough points to get in, even though her lap was faster than five other drivers. Her partnership with beauty brand e.l.f. Cosmetics let her use another car to race on Saturday.
"The car wasn't the car that I was used to driving in practice yesterday. So it took me, you know, 20 laps or so to get used to it. But then we were just hanging with the pack there and I was thinking, 'okay, I'm getting experience' and my goal was just to finish, right? And then when you get taken out and you get hit like that, there's literally nothing you can do," Legge added (00:45)
Katherine Legge will return to the Xfinity Series next week at Talladega Superspeedway with five more starts in the Xfinity and Cup Series.