The 2025 Chili Bowl is approaching its climax. Many motorsports veterans have already left a mark; Kyle Larson picked up the A-Main Preliminary victory. Then Christopher Bell won the O’Reilly Invitational Race of Champions feature. Besides these glorious guests from the NASCAR Cup Series, other off-dirt racers are here simply for the thrill. British motorsports icon Katherine Legge is one of them.

The 44-year-old speedster is a 4-time Indianapolis 500 starter. In 2023, she set the fastest-ever qualifying speed as a woman racer at the Indianapolis 500 – a blistering 231.070 mph. Legge is also a part-time NTT IndyCar Series racer. Despite this golden resume, Legge just hopes to pick up some experience at the Chili Bowl.

Katherine Legge drops candid take on her debut

Well, the motorsports icon has been on a dynamic and versatile racing journey so far. Her resume boasts a long list of starts – Formula One testing, Champ Car, DTM, Formula E, IMSA, the Indianapolis 500, and even the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Katherine Legge has a few trophy-laden pursuits too. In 2000, she achieved a pole position in a Zetec race and also clinched the British Racing Drivers’ Club’s “Rising Star” title. She won a race in the US Toyota Atlantic Championship in 2004, becoming the first woman to win a major North American open-wheel race. Legge’s ventures have mostly been on pavement – so on her first-ever dirt midget start in the Chili Bowl, Legge is avoiding big hopes.

Katherine Legge is wheeling the No. 12 Spike Chassis Midget waving Abacus Racing’s banner. She has been to only one midget race before at Lanier Raceway, let alone raced in one. So Legge is focusing instead on just breathing in the unique Chili Bowl experience. She said so in an interview with FloRacing: “It’s so cool. You know, it’s like the Super Bowl of dirt racing. It’s like the Indy 500 of midget racing. It’s one of the big ones, man, and its what we watch online every year with you guys, FloRacing. It’s one that I wanted to be part of but never dreamed of…So I’m getting to tick off all these really neat races.”

Abacus Racing is a famous team in the dirt racing world. The organization won the USAC Triple Crown of championships (midget, sprint car, and Silver Crown) over the past two years with driver Logan Seavey. So to get this stellar team’s guidance is something that Katherine Legge cherishes. “Not many people have those opportunities. So I’m very grateful. And these guys are so good. I have a lot of respect for them.” Then Legge dropped her humble confession about her motive behind the Chili Bowl. “I’m hoping that some of that will rub off on me and it will make me a better driver.”

What is more, it is boosting her enthusiasm in the world of racing – as Legge launched a podcast.

Lending her voice to upcoming speedsters

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Being a female racer is no easy feat. Many trailblazing icons have defied the male-dominated trend in motorsports for decades. Desiré Wilson became the only woman to win an F1 race during the 1980 championship. Danica Patrick clinched the 2008 Indy Japan 300. Katherine Legge is also trying to script her name in history by signing up for eclectic racing events around the world without batting an eyelid. To document her experience and to pay tribute to women’s motorsports, Legge kicked off a new podcast on the heels of her Chili Bowl debut. ‘Throttle Therapy with Katherine Legge’ is a brand-new podcast under iHeart Media.

The first episode of Legge’s new talk show dropped last week. There she talked to Brent Cox, owner and founder of Abacus Racing, about what she can expect in the Chili Bowl. “I’m thrilled to officially join the iHeart Women’s Sports roster for 2025 with my first-ever podcast. With the help of my partners at e.l.f. Beauty, iHeartMedia is investing in and setting the standard for women’s sports coverage and I’m honored to be part of that. It will also be really cool to have my iHeart podcast’s branding on my midget race car at the Chili Bowl Nationals.”

Evidently, Katherine Legge is taking the full rollercoaster ride on her Chili Bowl debut. All eyes are on the final race on Saturday, so let us see how Legge performs then.