Katherine Legge is first woman to attempt 'The Double,' driving the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in one day

5 min Click here to listen to this article Share via Close extra sharing options Email Facebook X LinkedIn Threads Reddit WhatsApp Copy Link URL Copied! Print 0:00 0:00 1x This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Indiana’s lack of glamour is a point of pride, rooted in Midwestern practicality and endless flat fields of corn. Lately, though, the Hoosier state has been elevated by towering sports figures. And on Sunday, two will be the fresh faces of the Indianapolis 500, which attracts more spectators than any other single-day sporting event in the world. Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark will be the grand marshal. National championship-winning Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti will drive the honorary pace car. But even those high achievers might be awestruck by one of the race car drivers. Or at least what that driver will attempt. Not only will Katherine Legge be the only woman among the 33 drivers in the Indy 500, which begins at 9:45 a.m. PT on Sunday. The 45-year-old motorsports trailblazer from England will then fly to Charlotte to race in the NASCAR Cup’s Coca-Cola 600, which begins at 3:29 p.m. PT. That’s 1,100 miles of left turns around two oval tracks. Kyle Busch has died. The two-time NASCAR Cup champion, remembered as a ‘giant of the sport,’ had been hospitalized with what his family described as a ‘severe illness.’ As impressive as undertaking what is known simply as “The Double” are Legge’s travel plans from Indianapolis to Charlotte. Five hours and 44 minutes separate the starts of the two races. The Indy 500 takes longer than three hours to complete. The commute will take close to two hours. Legge plans to hustle. She will hop into a helicopter moments after the Indy 500 and head to a nearby private jet that will zip her 366 miles to Concord Airport near Charlotte in an hour. Another helicopter will drop her onto the Charlotte Motor Speedway infield. A golf cart will take a beeline to her Chevrolet Camaro in time for the green flag. “Being focused for a three-to-four-hour IndyCar race then a five-hour NASCAR race, it’s the same as driving from New York to Daytona Beach pretty much at, gosh, an average of 200 miles an hour,” Legge said. “You cannot lose focus for a second of any of that. I don’t think anybody can comprehend that.” Legge is the first woman and only the sixth driver overall to attempt The Double. Although her career has included IMSA sports cars and Formula E in addition to IndyCar and NASCAR, she has never attempted anything this challenging. Alex Palou has established himself as the greatest IndyCar driver of his era, but winning the Grand Prix of Long Beach is something he has yet to accomplish. John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson and (rest in peace) Kurt Busch are the others who have tried. Larson is the most recent, finishing 18th in the Indy 500 and 37th in the Coca-Cola 600 a year ago. He also tried in 2024 but didn’t get to his car in time in Charlotte because of a rain delay in Indianapolis. The documentary “Kyle Larson vs. The Double” premiered Wednesday on Prime Video. It follows the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion through preparation, logistics and grueling reality of getting through the day. “I was thinking about what I’m going to do with a hybrid strategy at the same time as telling people about how I’m going to do the double,” she said. “It’s this weird disconnect, right? Where you’re like, ‘That’s so cool.’ And conceptually, you know exactly what’s involved, but it doesn’t sink in.” Busch, who tragically died at 41 on Thursday from an undetermined illness, turned in a valiant effort in 2014, finishing sixth in the Indy 500 despite having limited experience in IndyCar. Engine problems torpedoed his chances in the Coca-Cola 600, however, and he completed only 271 of 400 laps on the 1.5-mile track. The Enhanced Games made public the drug-use rates of 36 athletes scheduled to compete Sunday. A sprinter, swimmer or weightlifter who sets a record will be paid $1 million. “It was a challenge I put forth for myself,” Busch said. “I enjoyed it. I soaked it in.” Only once in five attempts did Gordon complete both races, finishing eighth in Indianapolis and 16th in Charlotte in 2002. A year earlier, Stewart turned in the most impressive double, finishing sixth at Indy and third at Charlotte. Andretti was pioneer of The Double in 1994, finishing a respectable 10th before flying to Charlotte with a nurse and registered dietitian to ensure he stayed hydrated. Andretti was penalized for missing the drivers’ meeting, however, and sent from the No. 9 starting position to the rear of the field. He crashed and withdrew on the 91st lap. Content with one race Sunday will be defending Indy 500 winner Álex Palou, who will start on the pole after a four-lap qualifying average of 232.248 mph. Six different drivers have won the race in consecutive years. Legge, who will be racing in her fifth

Katherine Legge is first woman to attempt 'The Double,' driving the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in one day

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Katherine Legge is first woman to attempt 'The Double,' driving the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in one day

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