Katherine Legge Has Received Death Threats Following NASCAR Starts

Katherine Legge is an immensely talented race car driver, but the 44-year-old driver, who has found previous success in the world of Open-Wheel and Sports Car racing, has had a rough start to the 2025 season as she is attempting to transition to a stint in NASCAR's stock car racing world.

In the latest episode of Legge's podcast, Throttle Therapy with Katherine Legge, the racer says, in addition to trying to drink water through a fire hose in her acclimation to NASCAR race cars, that she has had an added pressure heaped onto her shoulders in the form of death threats and inappropriate sexual harassment in the form of comments.

"First of all, I want to say that being a woman racing in NASCAR, it comes with an incredible sense of pride and obviously, it comes with a level of scrutiny and harassment," Legge said. "However, I will say that the hate mail, the death threats, and the inappropriate sexual comments that I have received aren't just disturbing, they're unacceptable."

Legge continued, by emphasizing that she is in NASCAR to race, and will not stand for the inappropriate behavior that she has endured following her first two NASCAR National Series starts of the 2025 season.

"Let me be very clear, I'm here to race and I'm here to compete, and I won't tolerate any of these threats to my safety or my dignity whether that's on track or off of it," Legge stated.

The veteran racer sympathisizes with racing fans, as she knows the level of support fans go to for their favorite drivers. But Legge says there is a line, and it's been crossed frequently recently.

"Racing is a passionate sport, and I understand that fans have strong opinions. And honestly, I love that, and I respect that about our sport. Constructive criticism is part of the game. I am always open to learning and improving. I promise that I will always take accountability for mistakes that I make," Legge explained. "However, what I think people need to understand is that there is a very thin line between feedback and personal attacks, and it’s really disappointing to see how often that line gets crossed."

Legge expanded on what she's been going through, and says that while she's received a rash of threats and cyber bullies in the wake of her recent NASCAR starts, that this isn't a new phenomenon happening in only America.

"...The level of hate that myself, and my team are experiencing at the moment is part of a broader issue that I believe women specifically face in male-dominated spaces. And actually, the FIA, the sport’s governing body, has come out with a document about it because it’s so bad in Europe and the rest of the world, as well, it’s not just a USA thing," Legge said.

The tenacious racer is hopeful that the issue will not become normalized, and that fans critcizing her understand that she has been battling it out on racetracks for more than 20 years. She says she's not a DEI (Diversity Equity, and Inclusion) hire or a gimmick. She is a world-class racer, who intends to race.

Katherine Legge's 2025 NASCAR Timeline

In March, the native of England made her NASCAR Cup Series debut driving for the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports team at Phoenix Raceway. While she turned the slowest lap of the 37 cars in qualifying for the event, Legge had honestly been doing a great job in her debut race for the Live Fast team, which is a part-time "Open" entry in the NASCAR Cup Series.

After struggling throughout the opening laps of the race, Legge settled in and began turning very comparable lap times to the drivers in the back half of the field. However, her decent debut came undone with a mistake on Lap 215 when she got loose, made contact with Josh Berry, one of the lead-lap cars, and spun off of Turn 2.

Daniel Suarez, who was right behind the incident, had nowhere to go and collided with Legge. The incident would spell the end of Legge's race, and she would be credited with a 30th-place finish in her Cup Series debut.

This past weekend, Legge made her first NASCAR Xfinity Series start since the 2023 season. She initially failed to lock into the field in the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing entry, but a deal was made to have her take over for JJ Yeley as the driver of the No. 53 Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet so she could gain some experience.

Unfortunately, Legge saw her race come to an end in a hard crash on her 50th lap on track in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Rockingham Speedway. Legge, a lapped car, was attempting to leave the bottom lane open for the lead-lap cars that were bearing down on her.

Fourth-place Nick Sanchez was able to get around her, but William Sawalich was unable to get down to the bottom lane in time and collided with Legge. The contact from Sawalich sent Legge spinning down into Kasey Kahne's No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, and after making contact with the right front of Kahne's car, Legge careened head-first into the outside wall.

She would be credited with a 36th-place finish after race-winner Jesse Love, and 36th-place finisher Justin Bonsignore were disqualified for infractions in post-race inspection.

Legge, who revealed an expansive NASCAR schedule for the remainder of the season on April 17, will get another chance to race this weekend in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway as she'll pilot the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet.

While Legge has encountered the same issue that all drivers attempting to move into the NASCAR National Series ranks have gone through, very little practice time on track, at Talladega, there will be no practice session for Legge to get further acclimated to her race car.

"We are going to Talladega this weekend, where there is no practice at all," Legge explained. "You go straight into qualifying, straight into 100% throttle, and hold it on the white line. And then straight into the race."

But the racer, who has the all-time record for fastest qualifying speed by a female competitor in Indianapolis 500 history -- a 231.070 mph four-lap average in 2023 -- is ready to attack Talladega with her Jordan Anderson Racing team.

"They've been phenomenal," Legge said of the Anderson team. "They've been so supportive and so professional. And the car is excellent. So, I'm looking forward to working with them again. And I'm very much looking forward to Talladega. It's going to be a plate race, which means that it's going to be very different [from] some of these shorter ovals. And hopefully, if I have a good result there, it will quiet the noise and yeah, change some opinions. So, let's hope for that."

The NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway is set for Saturday, April 26 and will be broadcast on The CW. Television coverage for the race is set to begin at 4 PM ET. Click here for the full weekend TV schedule.