Katherine Legge struggled in her NASCAR Cup Series debut Sunday at Phoenix, and while some in the sport have defended her this week, the 44-year-old driver says she is “embarrassed” by her mistake that took out a contender.
Legge, who became the first woman driver to start a NASCAR Cup race since 2018, spun twice and did not finish. One of those spins took out Daniel Suárez, who was running sixth.
Suárez did not blame Legge, but instead pointed the finger at NASCAR for allowing her to race without sufficient experience. Fox Sports analyst Kevin Harvick echoed those thoughts on his Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, saying “She was really thrown to the wolves in this situation.”
Legge shared her thoughts about her debut this week, and the incident involving Suárez, with Racer.com.
“Yeah, I was embarrassed because I didn’t want to make a mistake,” Legge said. “I wanted to show I was competent and that I belonged, and I knew as soon as it happened that everybody would attach to that, and that was what I would be remembered for.
“Because that’s always the way when you have so much of a spotlight on you going into something, people are very much more passionate about you either failing or you succeeding. They have an opinion, and that’s exactly what happened — everybody and their dog decided that they had an opinion.”
Legge revealed she has spoken with Suárez, who also blamed NASCAR’s approval process.
“Daniel was very sweet, actually, very kind and understanding,” Legge said. “He was like, ‘Listen, I don’t blame you.'”
All the talk this week about Legge’s debut has convinced her an old proverbial saying is wrong.
“So, I think that it definitely puts a spotlight on this sport and again, they say, there’s no such thing as bad press but after this week, I beg to differ,” Legge said.
Legge told Racer.com she’s eager to continue in NASCAR, although she admits she needs more experience. The easiest way to gain that is in the Xfinity Series, where she has five career starts.
