When Sara Christian first got into the NASCAR Championship at Charlotte all those decades ago, she didn’t know she was setting up a massive legacy, one that would inspire women even in 2025.  Some careers in the world of motorsport are built brick by brick. Others? They’re forged in fire. Katherine Legge has never taken the easy road. Whether it was battling stereotypes in racing or pushing through barriers in endurance series, she’s always been the one to knock on locked doors until they open. Her story doesn’t unfold like a traditional racer’s resume. Instead, it reads more like a tale of persistence, filled with hard resets, high-speed detours, and the kind of turns that can only be taken flat-out.

So when Legge took on her latest challenge, one that many warned would be too steep, too foreign, or simply too late, that was par for the course. So what happens when the gamble doesn’t pay out right away? What does a racer do when the flames blow up in a fire flare-up? That is where the real story begins.

Legge’s debut with the No. 78 Chevrolet at Phoenix for Live Fast Motorsports came on March 10. The event was even her first-ever start at Cup level and the first for a female driver since Danica Patrick’s 2018 Daytona farewell. Everything was planned for a momentous occasion, but her aspirations dashed in the midst of it. She spun out in Turn 4 and collided with Daniel Suárez on Lap 216, ending her race. The unfortunate crash was reported by NASCAR insider Joe Srigley, which saw Legge classified in 33rd.

Legge was optimistic in spite of the harsh conclusion. She admitted after the race, “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.” For anyone who has followed her globe-trotting racing career, such grit is no great surprise. From competing in Champ Car to surviving the Indy 500, Legge has seen worse than a wreck on a mile oval. And she’s not letting the Phoenix race stop her. She’s going to be driving the No. 79 car during NASCAR’s visit to Mexico. 

But the jump from never having been in an Xfinity or Truck to jumping straight into a Cup car was a little too tall an order to pull off overnight. Unlike open-wheel racing, stock cars demand a different rhythm, and Legge’s inexperience in NASCAR’s rhythm-heavy environment was exposed. She explained after the Phoenix race, “Yeah, I was embarrassed because I didn’t want to make a mistake. 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 is adopting a much more strategic view these days. She has confirmed participation in numerous NASCAR Xfinity Series the Rockingham event on April 19 and Charlotte on May 24, which will now serve as her proving grounds or stepping stones to get an imprint of the feel of stock car racing.

However, her Cup Series story is far from over. She returns to the No. 78 car for Live Fast Motorsports in the much-anticipated Mexico City Cup race on June 15, the first NASCAR visit there since 2005. This time, though, she will bring with her a ton of extra seat time, and with that extra confidence and, crucially, better preparation. 

And it’s not just Legge’s future at play here. The Rockingham weekend will be key in determining the Cup Series schedule for the future.

Is Rockingham returning to the Cup Series?

With NASCAR returning to Rockingham for the first time in over a decade, it’s a big deal for most fans. This is the same track where Dale Jr. and the rest of the NASCAR community came together to mourn the loss of the Intimidator. Needless to say, the track has a special place in the hearts of the NASCAR community. And even though it’s not a Cup race that’s taking place this weekend, it could mean big things in the future.

How so? Well, the numbers show that the Xfinity race taking place this weekend has already sold out. It was a particularly astonishing turnout, considering that the deal only went through last year and doesn’t have most of the big names driving a Cup race.

Even Track Enterprises President, Bob Sargent, the guy promoting NASCAR’s return to the track, could not believe it. He went on to say, “Excitement continues to build, and this news reinforces what we knew all along – race fans are delighted to have NASCAR back at Rockingham Speedway. Wow! When’s the last time a NASCAR Xfinity Series race was sold out of grandstand tickets? We want to thank the entire community, and the thousands of fans that have spoken with their support, to show the world NASCAR is back at The Rock.”

If this experiment is a success, we could find ourselves watching a Cup Series race at the track sometime in the future. Only time will tell.