This story was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com.
By Jenny Bartlett
TheStatehouseFile.com
May 22, 2026
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a place of history and traditions. This year Katherine Legge will make history by being the first woman to attempt the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600. This will be a total of 1,100 miles in one day.
Legge currently holds the fastest qualifying speed at 231.627 mph by a woman in Indy 500 history set in 2023. This year makes her fifth start at the Indy 500. After the Indy 500 race she will head to Charlotte to drive the Coca-Cola 600.
Not having the best week, Legge said, flight delays caused her to miss media day. Handling and wind conditions made her car feel “sketchy” and she said the car’s set up was too conservative for qualifying and kept them from being able to maximize the car’s true speed. Then she had limited traffic practice, with little time spent running in the turbulent wake of other cars.
Legge, who was stranded in New York Thursday due to flight delays, also had more troubles Friday with clutch and communication problems from the car.
“If it could go wrong it did go wrong,” Legge said, “but this when you want it to, in order to be ready for Sunday.”
The team worked tirelessly to fix each problem and Legge said she feels as though they are now ready for Sunday’s big race.
Weather will be a factor this weekend. If the Indy 500 is placed on a rain delay that could mean the race moves to Monday; however, rain is expected at Charlotte as well where another rain delay could push that race to Monday as well. Legge is trying to be relaxed saying “what will happen will happen.” But the forecast doesn’t look good. Her biggest questions for this weekend are will she race both on Sunday or one on Sunday and one on Monday and if she races one on Monday does that still count as a double?
Legge filtering things out from the weather, traveling troubles, lack of practice time at Charlotte and even the death of her friend Kyle Busch, are just some of the factors that could impact her performance.
Legge said she just reminds herself to not get “comfy.” She said she has to remember how lucky she is and how grateful she is to get to do this race and attempt to make history.
Legge will join a group of five other drivers in the attempt to do both races: John Andretti (1994), Robby Gordon (1997, 200, 2002-2004), Tony Stewart (1999 & 2002) also the only driver to complete both races in 2001, Kurt Busch (2014) and Kyle Larson (2024 & 2025) have all attempted the two races. This has been a hard feat to beat, not because of weather, but more because of the physical toll it takes on the body.
Legge said she was not able to do any fitness training for the past two weeks due to her busy schedule.
The two races have a grueling schedule starting with the 200 lap Indy 500 race which takes roughly 3 hours to complete. Then the driver has to be whisked away to the airport to fly into Charlotte for the NASCAR race. This race is 400 laps about 600 miles and is raced during the evening.
Legge said talking to other drivers getting hydration tips and food ideas.
“I have been drinking this new sports drink called Rip It in hopes that it will give me the energy I need to finish today,” Legge said. Rip It is an energy drink produced by the National Beverage Corp. It is famous for U.S. troops drinking it in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a 16 oz.can, there is typically 160mg of caffeine, B-vitamins and different amounts of sugar or zero sugar if you get the sugar free.
She said she plans to do an IV hydration on the plane to Charlotte and maybe eat some baby food for calories. Other drivers like Kyle Larson have done IV hydration, a medical technique that delivers fluids, electrolytes, vitamins and minerals directly into a person’s bloodstream through a vein, on the plane to Charlotte as a way to stay hydrated for the Coca-Cola 600. Racers will often use this to combat extreme fluid loss and speed up recovery bypassing gut distress, rapid hydration in the heat and quicker post-race recovery.
“It takes about 2,500 calories for the Indy 500 and about 3,000 calories for the Coca-Cola 600,” Legge said.
Motorsports is a high-demand endurance sport. Those attempting both races require immense energy due to the extreme heat, cockpits can get as hot as 130 degrees fahrenheit, physical G-force that can strain the neck core and arms requiring lots of physical exertion and mental focus with split second decisions going over 200 mph requires peak cognitive function, adequate glucose and hydration.
She said will have to force herself to eat on the plane after the Indy 500 because she doesn’t want to repeat what Stewart did when he ate protein bars in his car and got crumbs all over his gloves.
Her other challenge for the weekend will be getting some practice in Charlotte. The hardest part is she will be in an unfamiliar car without much practice time. Legge said, if all goes to plan she will be lucky to get 25 minutes of practice time but it could be less if the rain hits before she gets a real chance to practice.
No matter what happens Katherine Legge is dedicated to both races saying, “I am ready for whatever comes this weekend.”
Jenny Bartlett is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news site powered by Franklin College journalism students.
