Katherine Legge took the first step toward her dance with history, qualifying on Sunday for the Indianapolis 500.
Next Sunday, May 24, Legge will become the first woman to attempt “The Double” — racing in the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, North Carolina on the same day.
Legge was the final driver to make her qualifying run on Sunday, finishing with an average speed of 229.456 miles per hour, good enough for 27th place in a field of 33 cars. All of qualifying was pushed to Sunday after Saturday’s session was rained out.
The 45-year-old Legge will also be the oldest driver to attempt the Double and the first non-American-born driver to do it. The native of England will be sponsored by e.l.f. Cosmetics in both races.
“e.l.f. always wants to do the groundbreaking, newsworthy, big, cool things, right? They want to be disruptive,” Legge told USA TODAY Sports last week. “It’s another groundbreaking thing that I can showcase to the world really that, if you set your mind to things, you can do anything, and you can do things that maybe you never even dreamt of before.”
More: Katherine Legge doing Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600. Because ‘Why not?’ | Exclusive
Legge will pilot the No. 11 Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports with AJ Foyt Racing in the Indy 500, then get behind the wheel of the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports in Charlotte.
She made her NASCAR Cup Series debut last season, becoming the first woman to race in the series since 2018. Charlotte will mark the ninth Cup race Legge has competed in, with her best finish coming last year at the Brickyard 400 (17th place).
This will be the fifth time Legge has raced in the Indy 500 and she’s the only woman in the field this year. Her best finish is 22nd and she holds the track record for the fastest qualifying time by a woman.
“Especially on the Indy 500 side, I feel like we have a great team and a car that is capable of finishing well,” Legge said.
Next up for Legge is qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600. That will happen next Saturday and feature a day full of travel for Legge. She’ll attend the driver’s meeting in Indianapolis before flying to Charlotte for qualifying.
What drivers have attempted NASCAR and Indy 500 Double?
Should Legge qualify for the Coca-Cola 600, she will be the sixth driver in the history of motorsports to try The Double. John Andretti was the first in 1996, followed by Robby Gordon trying five times, Tony Stewart twice, Kurt Busch in 2014 and most recently, Kyle Larson in 2024 and 2025.
Of the previous five drivers, Stewart was the most successful, placing sixth at Indy and third in Charlotte in 2001.
It’s one of the most demanding tests of endurance and skill in all of motorsports, as drivers attempting The Double try to cover more than 1,100 miles in one day with little recovery time between the two races.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Indy 500 qualifying: Katherine Legge takes first step towards NASCAR ‘Double’ attempt
