Skip to main content
Join Now
NASCAR Logo

Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes NASCAR to task over Katherine Legge, shines light on biggest issue

Brian Jones Profile Picby:Brian Jones•about 12 hours•

brianjones_93

Katherine Legge
Mar 8, 2025; Avondale, AZ, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Katherine Legge (78) during practice for the Shrines Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Katherine Legge made her NASCAR Cup Series debut on Sunday, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. revealed why she struggled. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt shared his thoughts on Legge competing at the Cup Series race at Phoenix.

“It does not help that she’s in such poor car,” Earnhardt said. “It’s a poor car. She’s in a car that doesn’t do a lot of things right, and we don’t have any practice. The lack of practice and the problems that creates is glaring, and it’s in our face every other week. But we kind of choose to ignore it because there’s a lot of drivers, namely guys that are in the top third of the field, that don’t need practice. They’d rather not have practice.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. shares more on Katherine Legge

Earnhardt later said, “I think if she had a little bit more time in the car,” it would have helped Legge in the Phoenix race. That is why he thinks practice is important for drivers like Legge, who have little to no experience in the Cup Series.

Katherine Legge has a lot of experience racing, but for the Cup Series race this past weekend, Earnhardt said, “She’s in a bad car that doesn’t do anything right. She doesn’t know what it needs to do.” The two-time Daytona 500 winner later questioned NASCAR’s approval process, saying, “I don’t know what NASCAR’s approval process is. I don’t know if we need this really fixed, rigid structure of, ‘Well you need to win this, this and this or drive this, this, this to get there.’ I don’t know if we need to go that route.”

Legge became the first female driver since Danica Patrick in 2018 to compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race. In the race, Legge spun out twice and finished 30th.

After the race, Legge talked about the challenges she faced. “It was a really rough start,” Legge said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “We made some changes to the car overnight, and they were awful. I was hanging on like the first stint, I was so loose and I was just hanging on to it. Then we kept making adjustments, and we kept making the car way more stable for me. Then at the end there, I think we were relatively quick compared to the field. So, it wasn’t bad. I wish we hadn’t made the changes, but you know, we’re trying to find some pace, and we’ve found it throughout the race, but it was a rough start.”