Five Open teams embarked on downtown Chicago with the hopes of competing in the third-annual NASCAR Cup Series Street Race in Chicago. But with 41 cars on the entry list, it meant that one of the five would not advance to the starting field from qualifying.
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The five drivers (and teams) that had to sweat it out heading into Saturday’s qualifying session included Australian Supercars standout Will Brown (No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet), Austin Hill (No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet), Josh Bilicki (No. 66 Garage 66 Ford), Corey Heim (No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota), and Katherine Legge (No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet).
Heading into Saturday’s qualifying session for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course, many expected Legge and Bilicki to be the two drivers battling it out for the final starting spot in Sunday’s 40-car field.
However, after a hard crash in practice, it looked like Legge’s hopes had dwindled to slim and were venturing more realistically on none.
Then, fate intervened.
STARTING LINEUP: NASCAR Cup Grant Park 165 at Chicago
Corey Heim, who turned 23 years old on Saturday, suffered a bent toe link on the opening lap of his Group 1 qualifying run. Heim, a 16-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, pilots the No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota part-time, and like Bilicki and Legge, needed to clock his way into the starting lineup.
After the damage, Heim found himself in trouble as Bilicki slotted in ahead of him. That left Legge with an outside chance of toppling Heim as she took to the track in Group 2 qualifying.
Legge would creep faster and faster on the scoring sheet over her opening two laps of the session, but on Lap 2, she would collide with the outside wall with the left front of her No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet.
Undeterred, Legge would attempt one more lap. She had nothing to lose. In the end, she got what she needed and a little bit more, as she clocked in 0.138 seconds faster than Heim. After officially locking her place into the field, Legge stated that she knew there was no margin of error for her coming into the session if she hoped to make it into Sunday’s race.
“I tried my best to mess that qualifying up,” Legge quipped in an interview with Danielle Trotta on TruTV. “Honestly, I think it was a lot of pressure to come in with only 20 minutes of practice on a street course where there is no room for error to try and put it into the show.”
While it was a nerve-racking day, Legge feels relieved heading into Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event.
“I actually feel pretty good about it now, having done that,” Legge admitted. “It would have been a lot faster had I not of kept nicking the walls, I gave my crew a lot of work to do, but I just had to keep pushing and put it in the show, which we did, so I’m proud of them and I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow and a little bit less stress.”
The 44-year-old, who has competed in four Indianapolis 500s over her trailblazing career, says that while Indianapolis 500 qualifying is intense, attempting to make it into the field for a NASCAR Cup Series race is much more pressure-packed for her, personally, because she feels like she is still learning the race cars.
“It’s very much drinking from a firehose [in NASCAR] and just trying to find my feet and get better, and the only way you can get better is with laps,” said Legge. “And we don’t have any practice, so you have to get better in the race, so I have to put it in the show, so it’s like this vicious circle, but I really appreciate everybody’s support, and it means the world to me.”
Legge will roll from the starting grid in the 33rd position as she makes her third career NASCAR Cup Series start on Sunday, which is already an improvement from her first two starts in the premier division of NASCAR. Legge started 37th in each of her first two starts, which came earlier this season.
Now, she’ll look to finish better than 30th, which is where she finished in her NASCAR Cup Series debut at Phoenix Raceway, which ranks as her best finish to date.
After Sunday’s race, Legge is set to return to the NASCAR Cup Series in the upcoming events at Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International, and Richmond Raceway.
