With 13 laps to the checkered flag, Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series feature saw an unfortunate wreck, where an untimely miscommunication in the JGR camp ruined 44-year-old Katherine Legge’s Talladega hopes for good.
Following the disastrous fallout of AG-Pro 300, the Brit revealed her thoughts bluntly
‘Can’t Catch a Break’ – Katherine Legge Breaks Silence After Talladega Mishap
A wonderful car, big hopes, but a disappointing result. That was pretty much the summary of Katherine Legge’s superspeedway run at ‘Dega.’ The British racer now has three consecutive DNFs in her NASCAR starts this year, with the other two coming in the Cup race at Phoenix and last weekend’s Xfinity race at Rockingham.
Despite the early adversity, Legge was optimistic, hoping for a positive turnaround. Starting the 113-lap from P27, Legge slowly yet methodically paced herself. She battled her way through the field, finishing both stages 1 and 2 at P33, P34.
She carried the steam onto the final stage – running as high as P15 – and even led her first career lap during a cycle of green-flag pit stops.
But then disaster struck her, along with several others in lap 101, when former Cup Series full-timer Aric Almirola moved to the top lane on the backstretch. Unfortunately for Legge, a major error from Almirola’s spotter caused the JGR Toyota to make contact with Legge’s car.
The result? The nudge ended up in a massive pile-up, collecting Legge, Jeffrey Earnhardt, and Brandon Jones in the process. Legge was positive but couldn’t help but mention her ill-fate – “I thought we were going to have a great day, man but (we) can’t catch a break.” Following the heartbreak, Legge expressed her disappointment, “I’m gutted for the result, but I think that you know we proved that we belong there at least, and this stuff is… It’s not easy, it’s the hardest championship in North America… I’ll just keep learning, earning these guys’ respect and earning the fans’ respect, there’s no quit in me, so we’ll get there, I hope.”
But the IMSA veteran didn’t miss on thanking her team for setting up a fast, competent car. She said, “Honestly, I was having so much fun and it was awesome, the car was awesome, Jordan Anderson and team did a phenomenal job giving me a great car.”
She finished her day with another 34th-place finish and will be vying for redemption when she makes her next NASCAR appearance at Texas Motor Speedway on May 3rd.