Katherine Legge never set out to be a role model, but now she says she has a point to prove in NASCAR

(CNN) — When British racing driver Katherine Legge was given her long-awaited chance to compete in a NASCAR Cup series race for the first time, she would have been hoping to fly under the radar.

Instead, as the first woman in seven years to compete in one of the sport’s elite level events and it coinciding with International Women’s Day, Legge became the story at Phoenix Raceway.

Under an intense spotlight, Legge’s debut was a baptism of fire. “An absolute roller coaster of emotions” is how she described it to CNN Sports, while one of the sport’s former champions Kevin Harvick said she’d been “thrown to the wolves.”

The 44-year-old Legge’s motorsport experience is expansive. “I’ve driven literally everything else on the planet,” she explained, “IndyCar, Open Wheel, electric cars, sports cars, you name it – I’ve driven it.”

By her own admission, her stock car experience was limited, but she’d been invited by Live Fast Motorsports, a team which gives new talent a pathway into the sport.

“They weren’t expected to be competitive or fast,” she said. “Basically, all I had to do was go out there and show I was competent, finishing the race was what everybody would have said was a great result.”

However, Legge never made it to the finish line; instead, her race ended around two-thirds of the way through when a second spin resulted in a crash with driver Daniel Suárez, who was running in sixth place at the time of the accident. She’d been struggling to control her Chevrolet but was starting to find a rhythm until she fatefully understeered on a turn in the 215^th lap.

“I was bitterly disappointed,” she lamented. “I got a massive backlash from some of the fans which was obviously not what I’d hoped for either.”

Legge says that she’s been cautioned not to read the negative comments online, but she understood that she was criticized for being allowed to compete, despite her relative lack of experience. “But the problem there,” she asked, “is how do you get the experience?”

Legge takes full responsibility for the incident, and she quickly telephoned Suárez to apologize for it, but she feels as though she was set up to fail. “There is no testing, there is no practice, there is literally one session before qualifying and then you go race,” she explained.

“I understand making your way up through the ladder series, like doing Xfinity and trucks, but the NextGen Cup car doesn’t drive like a Xfinity or a truck at all, in any way, shape or form, it’s kind of its own unique beast. To get experience, you have to do the races.”

She says that if a practice session had been available, it would have removed the element of surprise, allowing her or any other new driver to learn how to handle the car. “Did I make a mistake?” she asked. “Yes. But it is also the way that you get better. Would I make the same mistake again? Absolutely not.”

Legge is grateful to the voices within the paddock who have recognized her quandary and spoken up in her defense. The legendary driver, team owner and broadcaster Dale Earnhardt Jr. pointed to what was essentially a triple disadvantage for Legge. “It does not help that she’s in a car that doesn’t do a lot of things right, and we don’t have any practice,” he said on his podcast.

Dismissing the criticism from some fans, Legge expressed gratitude for the support inside the paddock. “I’m very much grateful,” she said of the other drivers. “They know how hard it is. They recognize that it was a tall order, they are the voices that should be listened to. I think that while the fans are the reason we go racing, it’s not an educated opinion all the time.”

It may well have taken a high-profile incident like this for NASCAR to rethink its approach to incoming talent. Meanwhile, what tempered some of Legge’s disappointment afterward was the reaction that so many people had to her racing as the first woman in stock cars’ premier series since Danica Patrick in 2018. Video clips of young girls watching her race circulated on social media and Legge reposted one of them on Instagram.

“I never set out to be the representative for women in motorsports. I think that each and every one of us are individuals and we should all be judged on our own individual merit,” she said. “But it comes with a responsibility, and so I try to do the very best job with that that I can.

“I see videos of young girls watching the race and thinking they can be anything they want to be when they grow up because they see a girl driving a racecar and that’s what makes it worthwhile, making an impact on those lives is really special and means the world to me.”

Since Danica Patrick stopped racing in 2018, Legge has emerged as the most prominent female racing driver in the world. In 2023, she outqualified all of her male teammates at the Indy 500 and she became the fastest ever female to qualify for the prestigious race at The Brickyard, but she doesn’t see herself as a trailblazer.

“Back in the day, the Janet Guthrie’s and the Lyn St. James’ of the world, they were the ones who were really breaking barriers,” she told CNN. “There was no female restroom in the pits back then. Right now, I’m just trying to be a racecar driver. It’s not like I feel like I’m any different.”

Legge is hoping that she’ll get another chance in NASCAR soon and she is determined to prove that she belongs there. “For sure it wasn’t my best work at the weekend,” she said. “I didn’t showcase the talent that I feel that I have, and I wish it had gone differently.

“I think the naysayers are wrong, so I’m definitely going to go back and try again. I love the NASCAR paddock, and I see a future there – and anyway I need redemption now, right?”

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