Katherine Legge doing Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600. Because 'Why not?' | Exclusive

Feb. 22: Tyler Reddick celebrates winning the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.

Feb. 15: Tyler Reddick celebrates with his family and crew after winning the 68th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

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See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners

March 8: Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

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See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners

March 8: Ryan Blaney celebrates winning the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway.

2 / 4

See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners

March 1: Tyler Reddick celebrates winning the DuraMax Grand Prix Powered by RelaDyne at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.

3 / 4

See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners

Feb. 22: Tyler Reddick celebrates winning the Autotrader 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.

4 / 4

See victory lane celebrations with 2026 NASCAR race winners

Feb. 15: Tyler Reddick celebrates with his family and crew after winning the 68th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Sponsoring her cars in both events will be e.l.f. Cosmetics, which was the first beauty brand to be a sponsor in motorsports when they began partnering with Legge a few years ago.

“They’ve changed the face of racing for me,” Legge said of e.l.f. “This is really special, because I never felt like you can be authentically you as a woman in racing and be successful. I was always trying to just fit in. Typically, race car sponsors and partners don't necessarily speak to the women. It makes things like doing The Double possible for me, because they believe in me.”

Legge will pilot the No. 11 Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports with AJ Foyt Racing in the Indy 500, then get behind the wheel of the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports in Charlotte.

She began exploring the possibility of attempting The Double a few years ago.

“e.l.f. always wants to do the groundbreaking, newsworthy, big, cool things, right? They want to be disruptive,” Legge said. “Last year is when we really started planning and figured out how to go through all the corporate channels. Because I wasn’t a NASCAR Cup driver at that time, you have to do a bunch of races to get licensed before they’ll let you (race at superspeedways). Then we just worked really hard to get the right partners and the right people behind us.”

Should Legge qualify for both races, she will be the sixth driver in the history of motorsports to try The Double. John Andretti was the first in 1996, Robby Gordon tried five times, Tony Stewart twice, Kurt Busch in 2014 and most recently Kyle Larson in 2024 and 2025.

Of the previous five drivers, Stewart was the most successful, placing sixth at Indy and third in Charlotte in 2001.

It’s one of the most demanding tests of endurance and skill in all of motorsports, as drivers attempting The Double try to cover more than 1,100 miles in one day with little recovery time between the two races.

“It requires a level of endurance and precision that very few in history have pursued,” Legge said. “I don't know whether that makes me crazy or not for wanting to do it,” Legge said with a laugh.”

But challenges of stamina aren’t new to Legge. She was the first woman to compete in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and she’s also driven in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

This will be the fifth time Legge has raced in the Indy 500 and she’s the only woman in the field this year. Her best finish is 22nd and she holds the record for the fastest qualifying time by a woman at the Indy 500.

“Especially on the Indy 500 side, I feel like we have a great team and a car that is capable of finishing well,” Legge said.

Legge made her NASCAR Cup Series debut last season, becoming the first woman to race in the series since 2018. Charlotte will mark the ninth Cup race she’s competed in, with her best finish coming last year at the Brickyard 400 where she placed 17th.

In addition to the endurance challenges of attempting The Double, there are also logistical hurdles Legge will have to manage. The Indy 500 begins at 12:45 p.m. ET and the Coca-Cola 600 green flag drops at 6 p.m. She’ll have to take a helicopter from Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the airport where she’ll take a flight to Charlotte, then helicopter to Charlotte Motor Speedway after landing. Legge will eat and hydrate on the plane and get an IV for extra electrolytes.

She’ll to go back and forth the day before, too. That Saturday, she has to attend the driver’s meeting in Indianapolis before going to Charlotte to qualify for the NASCAR race.

“It’s meticulously organized down to the minute. I just have to turn left a bunch of times that day,” Legge said. “Hopefully there's no weather issues. We'll be all over the place.”

If there’s a weather delay or any other problems that keep Legge from reaching Charlotte on time, her team will have a backup driver ready to take the green flag and start the race.

Legge’s historical attempt at The Double also comes 50 years after Janet Guthrie knocked down barriers in motorsports. She was the first woman to complete practice laps at the Indianapolis 500, but failed to qualify for that year’s race.

Instead of throwing in the towel, Guthrie quickly pivoted to NASCAR, traveled to Charlotte and qualified for the World 600. She finished 15th in the race and was the first woman to compete in the Cup Series on a superspeedway track. The next year, Guthrie became the first woman to compete in the Indy 500 and Daytona 500.

It’s Legge’s hope her attempt at The Double will inspire more young women to get into motorsports. Between Danica Patrick’s last NASCAR Cup race and Legge’s debut, more than seven years passed where there wasn’t a woman who competed at that level.

She’s worried that NASCAR will endure another drought without women at the Cup level.

“It seems like there's nobody waiting in the wings ready to take on that mantra,” Legge said. “How many years out are we from having the next me? There's a couple of girls in the Truck Series that I don't think have what it takes to get there. We need to develop the next generation so that I can hand over the baton, so to say. But unfortunately, there seems to be this big gap these days. And it's on the IndyCar side, the open-wheel side and on the NASCAR side.”

Legge mentioned Lanie Buice as a driver who has shown promise in the ARCA Menards Series. The 19-year-old finished fifth at Kansas this season, but the road to NASCAR’s top level is a long one.

“That's probably four or five years away, if we're being realistic. And she’s just one, you know?" Legge said. "We need like five or six of them. There’s hundreds of guy drivers who are good and only a handful will make it. It's just a numbers game. We just need to increase the interest and the accessibility and the visibility and showcase female talent so that they can see it’s possible.

“You know, to be it, you have to see it.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Katherine Legge first woman to attempt Indy 500, Coca-Cola 600 | Exclusive