CONCORD, NC — As it turned out, Katherine Legge didn’t need to be at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday.
Qualifying for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 was rained out and the number of cars in the field is under the maximum capacity of 40.
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That means that Legge is locked into the field for the NASCAR Cup Series race ahead of her historic attempt at “The Double” on Sunday, where she’ll try to race in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same day, covering 1,100 miles on tracks in two different states.
Legge will be the first woman to attempt The Double. The native of England is also the first foreign-born driver to try it and the oldest at the age of 45. Legge will start near the back, 37th place, in the 19th row.
Katherine Legge eyes The Double
Having officially qualified for both races now, Legge will be the sixth driver to attempt The Double, following in the footsteps of John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and most recently Kyle Larson, who tried in both 2024 and 2025. Stewart was the most successful, placing sixth at Indy and third in Charlotte in 2001. Stewart is also the only driver to complete all 1,100 laps of both races.
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Legge flew to Charlotte on Saturday afternoon after attending the driver’s meeting at the Indy 500. The trip proved to be valuable for her because while qualifying was canceled, the rain did hold off long enough for her to get some practice laps.
Behind the wheel of the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports, Legge ran six practice laps at an average speed of 176 miles per hour.
“Honestly, I feel so much better,” Legge said Saturday outside of her hauler. “It may not seem like a lot, but it means that when I roll off tomorrow, I feel like I can go and not feel like I’m on the back foot.”
Legge made her NASCAR Cup Series debut last season, becoming the first woman to race in the series since Danica Patrick last did in 2018. Charlotte will mark the ninth Cup race she’s competed in, with her best finish coming last year at the Brickyard 400 where she placed 17th.
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She’s never raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway before, so any practice laps she could get ahead of the competition were important to her.
“I had a couple moments in practice where I lifted too abruptly, so I’m going to have that in my mind now. These mistakes and things that I haven’t come across before, now I know. It takes you a while to grasp during the race,” Legge said. “We’ll see tomorrow. I’m hoping that I get that part figured out relatively early on.”
Rain is in the forecast for both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. For now, the Indy 500 is scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m. ET, while the green flag for the NASCAR race will drop at 6 p.m.
e.l.f. Cosmetics is sponsoring Legge in both races. In Indianapolis, where she’ll compete in the Indy 500 for the fifth time, she’ll pilot the No. 11 Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports with AJ Foyt Racing.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Katherine Legge qualifies for NASCAR race for ‘The Double’ attempt
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