Katherine Legge on NASCAR Cup Series debut: 'This 100 percent is my identity'

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Katherine Legge doesn’t view her racing as the first woman in the NASCAR Cup Series in more than seven years as something to take pride in doing.

"It's disappointing that there aren't more women [in] INDYCAR, NASCAR Cup, sports cars," Legge said Friday, a day prior to her first time in a Cup car for practice at Phoenix Raceway.

It will be a somewhat historical moment as Legge, driving for Live Fast Motorsports, is the first female to drive NASCAR’s current Next Gen car and only the eighth woman to compete in Cup’s modern era.

"Everybody says, ‘What's it like to be a girl in racing?’" Legge said. "And I don't know, because I only have my own experience. I don't know what it's like to be a boy in racing.

"So I know what my journey has been, and I know that it's gone for me and it's gone against me, and I know where the struggles are. And I know mentally what you have to do to overcome those struggles."

The 44-year-old Legge has an extensive racing resume that includes 47 starts in top open-wheel cars and nearly 100 starts (including four wins) in top road-racing series. She has competed in everything from electric cars in Formula E to midget cars at the Chili Bowl. Legge has made five career Xfinity starts and will make her Cup debut Sunday.

"I've driven so many different forms of racing," Legge said. "I feel like this is the one that I really wanted to do that's eluded me. I just love it. It's in my blood.

"You know how they say that your job should not be your identity? Well, this 100 percent is my identity. I am just a racing driver."

The Cup debut will cap a whirlwind two weeks for Legge, who met with NASCAR officials two weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway to find out what she would need to get a