A rather innocuous incident during Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Rockingham Speedway has turned into a complete nightmare for veteran racer Katherine Legge.
Legge, who is set to spend time in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series this season, has faced incredible amounts of backlash since the incident, which occurred around Lap 50 of the North Carolina Education Lottery 250, and involved William Sawalich and Kasey Kahne.
The incident itself happened as Legge, driving the No. 53 for Joey Gase Motorsports, was being lapped in Turn 1 at Rockingham. Sawalich, who was running inside the top five at the time, got into the back of Legge and sent her spinning into the path of Kahne.
Within seconds of the incident happening, social media began to explode with negative comments about the 44-year-old driver, who has had a career spanning two decades competing in various forms of motorsports.
On Tuesday, Legge released a 15-minute segment of her iHeart Radio podcast Throttle Therapy, where she discussed all of the backlash she has faced from the incident at The Rock.
“First of all, I want to say that being a woman racing in NASCAR, it comes with an incredible sense of pride, and obviously it comes with a level of scrutiny and harassment, however, I will say that the hate mail, the death threats, and the inappropriate sexual comments that I have received aren’t just disturbing, they’re unacceptable.”
“Let me be very clear, I’m here to race and I’m here to compete, and I won’t tolerate any of these threats to my safety or my dignity, whether that’s on track or off of it.”
In expanding further, Legge says that one of her favorite parts of the motorsports community is the passion of race fans, and although constructive criticism is part of the sport, it has to be exactly that — constructive — and not hateful.
“I think people need to understand that there is a very thin line between feedback and personal attacks, and it’s really disappointing to see how often that line gets crossed. I think we can all agree that social media channels over the last few years are becoming progressively more toxic, and what’s happening to me isn’t just about me; online bullying exists across every major sport around the world.”
“The level of hate that myself my team and I are experiencing at the moment is part of a broader issue that I believe women specifically face in male-dominated spaces.”
Despite the disappointment and controversy that has followed Legge throughout her NASCAR starts this season, first in her NASCAR Cup Series debut at Phoenix, and now from Rockingham, the Guildford, United Kingdom-native is adamant that she has earned her keep.
“I have earned my seat on that racetrack. I have worked just as hard as any of the other drivers out there, and I’ve been racing professionally for the last 20 years. I am one-hundred perfect sure that the OEMs and teams that employed me without me bringing any sponsorship money, for the majority of those 20 years, did not do so as a DEI hire, or a gimmick, or anything else, it’s because I can drive a racecar.”
“So, my performance and not my gender is what defines me as a competitor, and I haven’t been in NASCAR long enough to be accurately judged for that; you can’t judge me on three races.”
Legge is not just calling on the NASCAR fanbase to have more accountability about the hurtful and abusive things being said about people in online spaces, but also the sanctioning body and the organizations that compete in it because as Legge adds, “we can’t normalize this issue.”
“Despite all of the noise, I am more focused than ever. I am here because I love the sport, I am still here because I love the sport. I could be at home on the lake enjoying my life, but I love racing; it’s intrinsic in me. No amount of hate will change that, you’re not going to make me quit or give up because I am stronger than that.
Legge will continue forward with her multi-race effort in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, driving the No. 32 for Jordan Anderson Racing.
