When Katherine Legge took the green flag at Phoenix Raceway earlier this year, she became the 17th different woman to compete at the Cup level. The last woman to run a Cup race before her was Danica Patrick over seven years ago. And much like Patrick's last race, Legge's debut was eventful, spinning twice and falling 102 laps shy of the checkered flag. But the 44-year-old remains undeterred.
Thursday, Legge shared plans to run at least seven more NASCAR races this year between both Cup and Xfinity — and partnering with a familiar sponsor: e.l.f. Cosmetics. Her next appearance will come next weekend, April 19th, in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Rockingham -- NASCAR's first Xfinity race at the historic oval in over two decades. She will drive the No. 32 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing. She has five previous starts in the Xfinity Series, placing as high as 14th at Road America in 2018.
Her schedule will also include the Xfinity race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend, which means she will not be running the Indianapolis 500 this year. However, Legge has hinted at the possibility of trying to complete the rare Indy 500/Coke 600 'Double' at some point and could be planning to gain more stock car experience ahead of a possible 2026 attempt.
Legge's next Cup race will be at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which will host the first ever Cup Series event in Mexico on June 15th. She will again pilot the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet. That track holds a special importance to Legge, who won the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY race at the circuit in 2019 as part of the FIA Formula E race weekend.
As for the rest of her scheduled races, those have not been officially revealed.
The 44-year-old British racing is a veteran of four Indy 500s and a winning IMSA driver. In her career, Legge also became the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in America when she took the checkered flag in a Toyota Atlantic Series race in 2005.
“I’ve never felt more empowered than I do with e.l.f. by my side,” said Legge. “e.l.f. truly walks the walk when it comes to putting its community—and especially women in sports—in the, pun-intended, driver’s seat. I’m thrilled to work towards achieving my racing goals with my e.l.f. team alongside Team Chevy. I want to be respected as one of the best drivers in motorsport and there is no better place to hone my skill set against the best of the best in front of the largest motorsport audience in the U.S. With the pivot to go all in on NASCAR, we are diversifying my own racing legacy as well as the paddock for future generations.”
The beauty brand first partnered with Legge in 2023 for the Indy 500. Kory Marchisotto, Chief Marketing Officer of e.l.f. Beauty, said of the partnership: "As they say in NASCAR, we have found our groove. Fueling Katherine’s dream to be one of the best motorsports drivers of all time is our mission. Inspiring young athletes to fast track their own ambitions is our passion. Female NASCAR fans are more likely to watch sports on TV, listen on the radio, and attend a live event than female fans of other sports. That’s our signal to lean the e.l.f. in with zero distance between us and the community.”
