Racing driver Katherine Legge is preparing to tackle one of the most daunting feats in all of sport: The Memorial Day “double.”
Also known as the Indy-Charlotte double, she’s only the sixth driver, and the first female, attempting to race the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. They are the longest races on the IndyCar and the NASCAR circuits, respectively, and she admits that she’s still grappling with the enormity of the challenge.
“Being focused for a three-to-four-hour IndyCar race then a five-hour NASCAR race, it’s the same as driving from New York to Daytona Beach pretty much at, gosh, an average of 200 miles an hour,” she explained. “You cannot lose focus for a second of any of that. I don’t think anybody can comprehend that.”
When asked by CNN Sports how she’s preparing for such an extraordinary feat, she laughed and joked, “tequila.”
The double presents a grueling test of physical endurance and it’s a highly complex logistical challenge. Legge admits that, even during her media interviews this week, her mind has been wandering as she continues to process the task ahead of her.
