There have been 16 women who have qualified for and started a race in NASCAR’s Cup Series. That number will reach 17 when Katherine Legge qualifies for and starts the 2025 Shriner’s Children’s 500.
Legge is the first female driver in the NASCAR Cup Series since Danica Patrick. She got her start in Indy car racing but switched to stock car racing.
Patrick first raced for the IndyCar series in 2005 at the Toyota Indy 300. She debuted in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series in 2010 and the Cup Series in 2012. Patrick remains the only female driver to win an Indy Car race, taking the checkered flag at the 2008 Indy Japan 300.
She stopped racing full-time in 2017 but ran the 2018 Daytona 500 and 2018 Indianapolis 500 before retiring. Here is what Patrick has been up to since then.
MORE: Meet NASCAR’s first female driver since Danica Patrick
What happened to Danica Patrick?
Patrick raced in IndyCar and NASCAR from 2005-18, running 116 IndyCar races in that span. Patrick earned three pole positions and seven podium finishes. Her lone win in the series was at the 2008 Indy Japan 300 in Motegi.
Patrick raced in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series from 2010 to 2015. She finished top 10 seven times during her 61-race career. Patrick then joined NASCAR’s Cup Series in 2012. She…
