NASCAR driver Katherine Legge slams 'DEI hire' slights after Xfinity Series crash

Professional operator Katherine Legge has done a batch to marque her people connected the athletics of car racing.

She holds the grounds for the fastest qualifying clip for a pistillate successful the Indianapolis 500. She was the archetypal pistillate to triumph an open-wheel contention successful North America. She was besides the archetypal pistillate to beryllium inducted into the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame.

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Katherine Legge signs autographs earlier the commencement of a NASCAR Cup Series astatine Phoenix Raceway, March 9, 2025, successful Avondale, Arizona. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb, File)

But the British operator revealed successful a podcast occurrence that she’s received "death threats" from fans aft she was progressive successful a clang during the NASCAR Xfinity Series contention astatine Rockingham past weekend. The incidental besides progressive seasoned operator Kasey Kahne.

"Let maine beryllium precise clear, I’m present to contention and I'm present to compete, and I won't tolerate immoderate of these threats to my information oregon to my dignity, whether that's connected way oregon disconnected of it," Legge said during the "Throttle Therapy" episode.

She added that "the inappropriate societal media comments I've received aren't conscionable disturbing, they are unacceptable."

Legge became the archetypal pistillate successful 7 years to commencement successful a NASCAR Cup Series contention erstwhile she made the tract successful Phoenix. The Xfinity Series contention was her 2nd of the season. She was thrust into J.J. Yeley’s car arsenic she was bumped disconnected the starting grid due to the fact that of ownership points.

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Legge moved disconnected the gait successful the contention erstwhile William Sawalich got into the backmost of her conveyance and sent her spinning. Kahne had obscurity to spell and ended up moving into her astatine the bottommost of the way successful Turn 1. Legge explained she was deed excessively hard, which caused her to rotation around.

As for the societal media comments, Legge pushed backmost connected claims she was a "DEI hire" oregon thing little than conscionable a "gimmick" operator who didn’t truly gain her spot.

Katherine Legge is simply a nonrecreational operator from Britain. (AP)

"I person earned my spot connected that racetrack," Legge said. "I’ve worked conscionable arsenic hard arsenic immoderate of the different drivers retired there, and I’ve been racing professionally for the past 20 years. I’m 100% definite that the... the teams that employed maine – without maine bringing immoderate sponsorship wealth for the bulk of those 20 years – did not bash truthful arsenic a DEI hire, oregon a gimmick, oregon thing else. It’s due to the fact that I tin thrust a contention car."

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Legge finished successful 36th astatine Rockingham. The champion decorativeness she had successful the Xfinity Series was 14th astatine Road America successful Wisconsin successful 2018.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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