The list of women who have raced NASCAR Cup with Katherine Legge set to become the latest

With her Cup debut Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, Katherine Legge would become the 17th woman to race in NASCAR’s premier series (see list below).

The eighth female driver in Cup during NASCAR’s modern era (which began in 1972), Legge, 44, will be the first woman to race the Next Gen car when she starts the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports.

The last woman to race in Cup was Danica Patrick, who ended her NASCAR career with the 2018 Daytona 500. Similar to Patrick (the only woman to win an IndyCar race), Legge raced a variety of series before stock cars.

Katherine Legge to become first woman to compete in a NASCAR Cup race since 2018

Katherine Legge will make her Cup debut Sunday at Phoenix Raceway with Live Fast Motorsports.

• Dustin Long,

• Dustin Long,

She is a four-time GT category winner in IMSA with 102 starts from 2007-24. The Guildford, England, native became the first woman to win in the Atlantic Championship (once a feeder circuit to IndyCar) with three victories in 2005.

She raced full time in the Champ Car World Series in 2006-07 and made four Indianapolis 500 starts in 2012-13 and 2023-24. Last year, she made seven oval starts in the NTT IndyCar Series.

Legge, who made her ARCA debut last month at Daytona International Speedway, will be making her sixth NASCAR start. She has made five appearances in the Xfinity Series, most recently at Road America in 2023. She made four Xfinity starts in 2018, including her first oval start at Richmond Raceway.

Here’s the full list of women in the Cup Series (ordered by number of starts):

Driver	Years	Starts	Wins	Top 10s	Poles	Avg. Finish
Danica Patrick	2012-18	191	0	7	1	24.1
Janet Guthrie	1976-80	33	0	5	0	19.3
Louise Smith	1949-52	11	0	0	0	36.8
Shawna Robinson	2001-02	8	0	0	0	24.1
Sara Christian	1949-50	7	0	2	0	13,1
Patty Moise	1987-89	5	0	0	0	32.2
Robin McCall	1982	2	0	0	0	21.5
FiFi Scott	1955	2	0	0	0	27.5
Ethel Mobley	1949	2	0	0	0	18.0
Ann Chester	1950	2	0	0	0	31.0
Marian Pagan	1954	1	0	0	0	18.0
Lella Lombardi	1977	1	0	0	0	22.0
Goldie Parsons	1965	1	0	0	0	37.0
Christine Beckers	1977	1	0	0	0	14.0
Ann Slaasted	1950	1	0	0	0	31.0
Ann Bunselmeyer	1950	1	0	0	0	18.0

Best start: Danica Patrick, First, Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013

Best finish: Sara Christian, Fifth, Heidelberg Raceway, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Oct. 2, 1949

Most Laps Led (race): Danica Patrick, 11 at Watkins Glen, Aug. 7, 2016

Most Laps Led (season): Danica Patrick, 30 laps in 2016