Katherine Legge takes out NASCAR rival with | Sports News

Katherine Legge’s NASCAR Cup Series debut went from bad to worse on Sunday as she caught Daniel Suarez after spinning out at Phoenix Raceway.

The British driver, who has previously competed in the Xfinity Series and IndyCar, drove the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports in Sunday’s race. Legge’s day started badly, as she self-spun off Turn 2 while racing alone in the back of the pack on Lap 4.

She managed to regain control and issued a swift apology to her team over the radio. Legge said: “Hey guys, I’m sorry. I’m so tight. I have so much wheel in it that it got loose on exit, but it’s because I’m so tight.”

A member of the team replied: “Take a deep breath. Shake it off. Car’s fine. It’s all learning. Every lap. No harm, no foul.”

Yet more drama ensued with 98 laps to go. Legge lost control and spun out, right into Suarez’s path. 

The Mexican-born driver couldn’t get out of the way and slammed straight into the Brit, ruling her out of the race. Suarez continued after meeting the minimum speed.

FOX’s play-by-play team reacted to Legge’s spin as it happened. “She was doing fine guys, I feel like we jinxed her,” said Clint Bowyer. “Right as we put the camera on her.”

Kevin Harvick added: “Hate that for him (Suarez). We’ve seen this so many times, where you just touch that right front with these cars, coming up the race track to the outside car, it’ll spin them right around. And Daniel Suarez – I mean, what a terrible feeling. Great job by (Ryan) Blaney (to avoid the wreck), but Suarez nowhere to go.”

Reacting to her race, Legge said: “It was a really rough start. We made some changes to the car overnight, and they were awful. I was hanging on… I was so loose, I was just hanging on to it. And then we kept making adjustments, and we kept making the car way more stable for me.

“And then at the end there, I think we were relatively quick compared to the field, so it wasn’t bad. I wish we hadn’t made the changes (overnight), but we were trying to find some pace, and we found it throughout the race, but it was a rough start.”

When asked to describe her first Cup Series experience, Legge replied: “Baptism of fire. I think there’s a lot of positives to take from it. Obviously there were mistakes made, but I learned so much and hopefully I get to come back and do it again.”

While Legge’s race didn’t go to plan, she still made history on Sunday by becoming the first woman to compete in the Cup Series since Danica Patrick at the Daytona 500 in 2018. Speaking before the race, Legge expressed a desire just to cross the finish line.

“I just want to have a solid race, finish all the laps, show the other drivers the respect that they deserve and just learn as much as possible in the hope that I do a good, competent job,” she told FOX Sports.

“I don’t think I’m out there to take any risks today, I just want to finish and get the experience so that I get the opportunity to do more.”