Early Sunday morning, Katherine Legge will strap herself into the Acura Integra Type S DE5 race car to accomplish one goal: set a new record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.
Legge, a veteran driver who has competed in NASCAR, IndyCar and IMSA, is up for the challenge; she teamed up with Acura last year in the “Race to the Clouds,” missing the current Time Attack 1 (TA1) division record of 10:48.094 by just 3 seconds.
“It’s probably the most dangerous but the most exhilarating race you can do. I’ve never felt so alive being so close to falling off the edge of a cliff,” she told ABC News ahead of the race, which takes place every June in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Pikes Peak is America’s longest-running hill climb and possibly even more intense than what Legge has experienced on racetracks: 156 turns over 12.42 miles, with harsh and unpredictable weather a constant threat.
Drivers start their engines at 9,390 feet, climbing and sprinting until the finish line at the mountain’s 14,115-foot summit. Altitude sickness can be a major factor for even the fittest competitors.
Legge said she’s ready to conquer the harrowing mountain and make history in the century-old race.
“I believe [the car] is slightly faster than last year. I am slightly faster than last year,” she said.
After Pikes Peak, Legge will return her focus to NASCAR, a series she “loves” and is hoping to compete in full-time. Legge had her first NASCAR Cup Series start in March; Danica Patrick was the last woman to achieve the same feat in 2018.
Legge addressed her burgeoning NASCAR career, the one race that still eludes her and the female drivers who opened doors for her in the male-dominated sport.
The conversation below has been edited for clarity.
Q: When did Acura reach out to you with the Pikes Peak opportunity?
A: Pikes Peak is the second-longest standing race in America after the Indy 500. I’ve done the Indy 500 four times and I was looking for an opportunity to do Pikes Peak because as a racer, it’s bucket list.
So I reached out to Acura [two years ago] and said, ‘hey, I’d really like to do Pikes Peak.’
I did it for the first time last year. We missed the front-wheel-drive record by 3 seconds — it sounds like a lot in normal racing terms but in Pikes Peak terms … that’s not very much at all. Then [Acura] said, “Do you want to come back and get that record if we can?” And I was like, “Absolutely — that record is mine.” So fingers crossed.
It’s probably the most dangerous but the most exhilarating race you can do. I’ve never felt so alive being so close to falling off the edge of a cliff.
Last year it was really hot so we lost a lot of power toward the top and the tires became really slippery. So hopefully we have perfect conditions this year and we get it done.
Q: What did you learn from the experience in 2024?
A: Last year’s experience was awesome. The HRC factory team [Acura and Honda Racing Corporation USA] has given me an amazing Integra to drive. It is so good. I trust them explicitly. And you have to be able to say that when you’re on the limit going up Pikes Peak because it is really dangerous. If you do anything wrong, or if the car does anything wrong, the consequences are dire. I have a lot of faith in them.
Since I’ve been racing Indy Car and NASCAR, my brain switches gears from one series to another. I had to fly in from Mexico City directly from a NASCAR race and study feverishly on the plane to try to remember the hill. Then we practice all week and I do that in conjunction with looking at video and looking at data and I feel like the team is very well prepared, the car is very well prepared. I believe it’s slightly faster than last year. I am slightly faster than last year. I think we’re almost 10 seconds quicker in the [bottom section] than last year.
Q: Pikes Peak is a 12.42-mile course with 156 turns and ends 14,000 feet above sea level. Talk about some of the challenges of the race, including potentially altitude sickness.
A: I think a lot of people suffer from altitude sickness. The first time I went to the top last year, I climbed the stairs in the tourist center and I was so out of breath. And I got a headache and I wasn’t feeling great. When we do testing, when we’re practicing, we run oxygen only on the top part [of the hill]. Last year I tried to do some altitude training, like running up the Garden of the Gods, and climbing the Manitou Incline, which is really hard. I feel better versed to handle it this year. I feel like I know what to expect. But a lot of people go loopy at the top. Oxygen is run inside tubes in our helmet .. it just helps keep you sharp. But it’s still tough.
Q: Do you have any pre-race rituals?
A: I do. I am kinda superstitious. I always wipe my feet on the pavement to make sure there’s not anything sticking to the bottom of them. I always eat the same thing, drink the same thing, get ready in the same way. I am a creature of habit. I’ve been racing professionally for 20 years now. I always put my belts on the same way. [Wednesday] was the first time I realized that was another ritual because one of my engineers clicked my button for me and it was in the wrong order so I had to undo it and start over. I was like, no, this is bad luck. I am not doing this. It has to go in the right order. It’s like a tick.
Q: Your racing resume is so impressive and diverse — stints in NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula E, IMSA, among other series, plus endurance racing like Sebring and Daytona. What type of racing do you prefer? And what’s still on your racing to-do list? Le Mans maybe?
A: That’s a great question. I was having this discussion with my dad yesterday. He was like, the only one that’s evaded you is Le Mans.
MORE: ’24 hours of my life’: What it takes to finish Le Mans, the world’s most famous endurance race
I was supposed to do it in 2020 but I broke both of my legs in a testing incident. But it’s not the be all and end all for me. I want to continue to do more NASCAR races. I love IMSA racing and sports car racing, I am really good at that.
Q: What’s it like to be a woman competing in motorsports now versus when you first started and do you mentor fellow female drivers?
A: I am not a believer in the segregation of women in racing because I think we can compete on a level playing field. Twenty years ago there were five or six of us racing at this level. Now it’s just me. If [women are] not racing against the best of the best, they’re not going to become the best.
I am in my NASCAR era and I am having so much fun trying to conquer this huge great mountain, metaphorically as well. Not only am I trying to conquer Pikes Peak, I am also trying to conquer NASCAR. The only reason I am here is because of other people supporting me so I need to do the same.
We have two legends here this weekend. Lyn St. James is here this weekend receiving an award for everything she has done for women in racing.
Michele Mouton, the only woman who has won world championships and is the coolest human on the planet, is going to be here. She won Pikes Peak and the stories she has about Pikes Peak are just unbelievable. Those are the women who opened the door for people like me. It’s getting more accepting as the years pass, as time moves on. But there’s still a lot of skepticism because no woman is winning in a top level like Indy or NASCAR. Hopefully we can change that in the next decade.
There are a lot of opportunities for European women in racing and I don’t think that the same exists in the U.S. at the moment. So watch the space.
Q: Do you want to go full-time in NASCAR?
A: I love NASCAR, I would absolutely do it full-time. I think I have to earn my stripes first, prove that I belong there. It’s not because I am a female. It is the hardest championship in the world purely because there’s 40 really good drivers. If you look at IndyCar, there’s 10 or 12 drivers. Same in sports cars. [NASCAR] is really tough to break into. [The men] have all been very kind and accepting for the most part. It’s really only the fringe people or the ones who are insecure who haven’t been. I get their skepticism, I just hope to prove them wrong.
You learn as you go, you learn as you race. You try to stay out of as much trouble as you can. You try to get as much experience as you can. There is no substitute for driving. That’s why in this day and age experience counts for so much in NASCAR. You don’t see that many new people breaking in because it’s really tough to. Even if you’re an Xfinity Series champion or a Truck Series champion, to get to the Cup Series takes a lot of support from your sponsors and a lot of experience.
Q: What about running in next year’s Indy 500?
A: I absolutely want to. We are working on getting a car secured at the moment.
