INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Katherine Legge’s last-minute plans to attempt American racing’s famed Memorial Day Weekend “Double” have been a lot to handle so far, and it’s left her reminding herself: “Don’t be grumpy, don’t get grumpy.”It would be hard to blame her if she did. Legge is preparing to race in both the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, and it’s been anything but smooth.Her open-wheel IndyCar has battled clutch problems and communication issues. Her journey back to Indianapolis from a New York media tour this week resulted in a nightmarish lost day and a half of travel woes (due in part to the sinkhole on a runway at LaGuardia Airport).She did not get the NASCAR simulator time she hoped for in North Carolina, nor has she gotten to study film of last year’s races to “get my head in the game and spend time with my engineers.”And then there’s the weather. With rain in the forecast for both races, it’s left her uncertain what Sunday will look like. Even Saturday’s practice session in Charlotte could be washed out, which could further heighten the daunting task ahead due to her inexperience in NASCAR.“I desperately need practice in the Cup car,” she said. “It’s going to be my second mile-and-a-half (track), and my (ninth) Cup start. I do not want to turn into Turn 1 after the green, without having driven Charlotte, in a car I don’t know that well.”It all adds up, she acknowledged Friday in a news conference, to not feeling as prepared as she hoped to be heading into the weekend.But she’s not about to pull the plug, either.“We committed to doing this thing, and we’re not going to not do it because I don’t feel ready,” Legge said. “It’s too late for that.”Legge is the sixth driver in motorsports history to attempt the Double, and it only came together a couple of weeks ago when sponsor ELF Cosmetics was looking to make a splash. Legge starts the Indy 500 from the 26th position on Sunday in her HMD Motorsports car, then will fly to Charlotte to race Live Fast Motorsports’ No. 78 car.Neither car is expected to contend for a win or even a top-15 finish. Legge will attempt to complete as many laps as she can in a quest to do all 1,100 miles in the same day, but the odds are low; in NASCAR, for example, Live Fast has entered eight straight races without having a car finish on the lead lap.“We committed to doing this thing, and we’re not going to not do it because I don’t feel ready,” Katherine Legge says of Sunday’s attempt at the “Double.” (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)Legge, who will become the first woman to attempt the Double and also the oldest driver to try it (she’s 45), said it’s taken her years to hone a healthy perspective and mindset regarding setbacks.For example: When she was stuck on the LaGuardia taxiway for two and a half hours, she was frustrated but tried to shift her mentality to something more positive.She thought of it like this: “We had a sinkhole, and we had all these things, but hey, I’m still going back to Indy to drive the Indy 500, right?”While that’s true, it’s tougher to keep a positive attitude about the forecast. Wacky and unpredictable weather of late has impacted two recent high-profile Double attempts by NASCAR star Kyle Larson, who faced this same dilemma (he missed the 600 in 2024 and would have had to park his car before the end of the 500 in 2025 had he not crashed).Legge said she’s trying not to let herself look at the weather forecasts, but also understands the impact they could have.“I’m like: Don’t go down that rabbit hole. It’s changing all the time,” she said. “So I’m trying to be like, ‘What will be, will be’ and be relaxed about it. But it doesn’t look great at the moment, I have to say.”It makes her wonder what would happen if the rain hit. She’s definitely committed to the 500 over the 600, but what if there’s a delay at both? Could one of the races get moved to Monday?And, she wondered: “Does it still count as doing the Double if you do one race on Sunday and one race on Monday?”The National Weather Service is calling for a 70 percent chance of rain in Indianapolis on Sunday; there’s an 80 percent chance of rain in Charlotte.“There’s so many things that you have to just like put to the side and go, ‘It doesn’t matter,'” Legge said. “I’ll do my best with whatever situation is thrown at us, a bit like the last couple of days trying to get back from New York.”She acknowledged the feeling of not being prepared enough for the NASCAR race “doesn’t fill me with warm and fuzzies,” but also said she’s running out of time to study for the races.The Double day is coming, ready or not.“It’s preparation or sleep,” Legge said. “So there’s got to be a compromise in there somewhere.”May 23, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms