Steve Henson
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 the equivalent of 1,100 miles of left turns around two oval tracks.
On the same day.
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.
At least that’s the plan.
“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.
John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch are the others who have tried.