Only six people in history have ever attempted to “do the double” by racing in the Indianapolis 500 and then flying off to Charlotte, North Carolina to run in NASCAR’s longest oval race, the Coca-Cola 600 that same night. Legendary driver Katherine Legge, who has plenty of experience in open wheel and stock cars (and sports cars, Formula E, DTM, and prototypes), will become the seventh driver to attempt the feat, and the first woman in history to do so. She will also be the first non-American-born driver to take on the country’s most difficult racing challenge, as well as the oldest driver to try it at 45 years of age. Sunday, May 24 will be a very busy day for Legge, even if everything goes according to plan.
With the Memorial Day journey just 11 days away, the announcement late on Tuesday came as something of a surprise. Legge has already begun her month of May efforts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, running the number 11 HMD Motorsports/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet with sponsorship from longtime supporter E.L.F. cosmetics. Her run at the Coca Cola 600 will be behind the wheel of a much larger Chevrolet, this time the number 78 Live Fast Motorsports stock car.
“It’s an exciting time,” Legge told USA Today Sports. “It’s another groundbreaking thing that I can showcase to the world really that, if you set your mind to things, you can do anything, and you can do things that maybe you never even dreamt of before.”
This effort actually began last year when Legge and E.L.F. decided to go for the Double. In order to even attempt to race at Charlotte, Legge had to pass a ton of milestones in NASCAR to be eligible to run at speedways. She ran seven Cup events and seven Xfinity series events in 2025 to pass their standards, and after last weekend’s Cup race at Watkins Glen, she’s officially made the cut. It’s been a long time coming, but there’s still a long row to hoe in order to get to the finish of 1100 miles of racing.
What does it take to do The Double?
John Andretti made the first Double attempt back in 1994, and Robby Gordon famously tried to make it happen five times. Most recently this challenge kicked NASCAR champ Kyle Larson’s ass as he crashed out of both races last year. Only one person has ever actually managed to finish all 1,100 miles of the much vaunted double. 25 years ago, Tony “Smoke” Stewart crossed the finish line at Indy in 6th, then flew to Charlotte where he closed out the night fighting for the win in 3rd. Despite how much I dislike Stewart as a driver and person, this remains an astonishing feat.
Even if everything goes according to plan, there is something of a logistical nightmare waiting for Katherine Legge next Sunday. The two tracks are about 430 miles apart, and presumably Kat will hop on a chartered flight or private jet for the run to Charlotte. The Indy 500 is scheduled to start at 12:45PM, though the last two runs of the event have been impacted by significant rain delays. The fastest Indy 500 in history was the 2021 event, which Helio Castroneves won in two hours 37 minutes and 19 seconds. Even if everything goes according to plan, she’s probably not getting out of Indianapolis until after 4PM.
The Coca-Cola 600 is scheduled for a start time of 6 p.m., so she should have plenty of time to catch a helicopter from Indy to a local airport, hop a short flight, and get another helicopter into Charlotte for the big NASCAR run. She’ll have to hope for good weather, a fast race, and a lead-lap finish in order to even come close to matching or perhaps even beating Tony Stewart’s record. Luck hasn’t really been on Legge’s side in recent years, so I sincerely hope she’s just been saving up all her luck for this one day.
Personally, I’ll be in the stands in Indianapolis cheering for Kat in her fifth Indy 500 attempt. We really need a feelgood narrative in 2026, so why not this?
