Legge working on Indy 500, keen on Phoenix double

Katherine Legge used the momentum from her run at the 2024 Indianapolis 500 with Dale Coyne Racing to expand her career into NASCAR in 2025, and with the support of her sponsors, the Briton is keen to make a return to the Speedway.

Efforts to assemble a program to run the Indy 500 went far earlier this year, but Legge was unable to put another entry on the list. With more time to work on a program, the four-time Indy starter wants to make it five and has been speaking with teams to explore her options.

“Indy’s in your blood,” Legge told RACER. “I want to be able to do it and have a shot. When I drove for Sam Schmidt in 2013, I had a good car. Really good car. And I had a shot. But I messed it up. And then when I went back and I did it with Rahal (in 2023), I thought, ‘I'm gonna have a shot,’ because Rahal had good cars and we really didn't have great cars that year.

“And the same with Dale Coyne last year. I was like, ‘Dale's got really good Speedway cars,’ and we struggled. So I want to go back and have a shot with a car and a team at the right time. All of these teams have been good; I just missed the timing of it. So I’m looking into it, going again. I don’t feel like I had the results I could have gotten, so we’re looking.”

Legge’s month of May with Coyne and introduction of the cosmetics brand e.l.f. to the event through primary sponsorship on the car and e.l.f activation hubs around the Speedway made a sizable impact that raised her profile, drew in more sponsors, and opened the door to racing in NASCAR last season.

With a best Indy 500 finish of 22nd on her debut in 2012, Legge wants to improve her top finish at the Speedway and would welcome the opportunity to run a doubleheader in March.

“I would love the opportunity to see where I end up,” she said. “With Sam Schmidt, I had a car that was capable of winning, or at least a top 10, and I know I can run there again. There's no race that evokes the same emotion as Indy. There are some really cool races. You've got Daytona 500, you got Le Mans, Bathurst, the Daytona 24 Hour. You’re always gonna want to do those right?

“As long as you're in with a shot and you feel like you’ve still got it, and I feel like I’ve still got it, I want to race again at Indy. And I’d love to do Phoenix as well and do the Cup weekend with IndyCar and maybe be the only driver who goes there to do both.”