Katherine Legge is starting to find her feet in the NASCAR Cup Series. The 45-year-old Brit recorded a second top-20 finish in four weeks, earning praise from stock car legend Mark Martin.

In 2025, Legge is competing in Cup and Xfinity Series races, and she has shaken off poor starts in both. In her Cup debut in Phoenix earlier this year, Legge suffered an early spin before colliding with Daniel Suarez later in the race.

She failed to qualify for two Xfinity races and hasn’t finished in the top 30. However, in the last three race weekends, Legge finished 19th in the Cup race in Chicago, followed by 31st at Sonoma and then 17th in Indianapolis, proving her critics wrong after coming under fire earlier this season when NASCAR was questioned over its approval process.

Legge’s 17th-place finish set a new non-superspeedway best finish for Live Fast Motorsports, making the most out of her time in the No. 78, earning praise from NASCAR legend Martin and fans. “Very impressive,” Martin said on social media platform X, reacting to car cam footage.

“I also think we need to recognize @katherinelegge with a 17th place finish with @teamlivefast, I think we can all agree that’s making the most out of the equipment you’re in!” another fan said.

“Katherine Legge just set a new non-superspeedway best finish for live fast motorsports with 17th today after tying their best in Chicago, btw. It’s time for NASCAR fans to give her the respect she deserves,” another tweeted.

Legge has been subject to abuse and sexism this year, all of which she has ignored and persevered. “It doesn’t bother me because I’m thick skinned,” she told the Daily Mail. “I’ve been the only girl in racing for two decades. 

“I know that people like Bubba [Wallace], and Denny [Hamlin], and Joey [Logano], and all those guys get the same thing. I think the difference is just with some of the ones that I got, they were very directed at my appearance on my body or my sexuality… It was amazing to me what makes people think these things up.”

“We did that podcast episode and we commented on it and we brought it to light because whilst I might be thick skinned enough that it’s like water off a duck’s back, I don’t know that if I was me 20 years ago, whether it would have been the same thing, right?,” Legge added.

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“I don’t know whether the girls coming up through, maybe that’s a barrier to them because it’s a lot. I just think that it’s a factor of social media today, which I didn’t necessarily have when I was first starting out, so I didn’t get to see or experience of that. 

“But this generation, I don’t know whether they’re hardened to it or whether it is something that bothers them and gets under their skin. I mean, it’s a form of bullying at the end of the day, and I think that it’s unacceptable. 

“The fact people are anonymous and behind a keyboard makes them think that it’s okay to type this stuff. But I can tell you not one person has said it to my face. So I think it’s worth calling out.”