FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
Contact: Alexa Blank
alexa@teamabacusracing.com
Katherine Legge to make her midget debut at the 2025 Chili Bowl, completing the line-up for Abacus Racing.
INDIANAPOLIS, December 10, 2024 — Katherine Legge’s career has included a wide variety of racing activities. A veteran of INDYCAR and IMSA, she has driven in some of the biggest races in the world, including the Indianapolis 500, the 24-Hours of Daytona, and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. And, along the way, she has driven a wide variety of race cars including multiple open-wheel cars, multiple cars in multiple sports car classes, Xfinity Series cars, and Formula E cars. But, she is about to add a new car, and a new driving surface to her resume. Legge will make her midget racing debut with Abacus Racing at the 2025 Chili Bowl and with that her first laps on dirt. It will allow her to add another marquee event to her resume while providing a fresh challenge. It is something that she is familiar with.
“I have been very fortunate to have driven a lot of different racing cars in a lot of different racing series all over the world!”, said Legge, a native of Haslemere, England, and long-time Atlanta resident, “I love that I’ve had such a diverse career in racing so far. I always follow the biggest races across the disciplines. The Chili Bowl is one of those events I have always followed with awe and admiration. It was something I just said to myself I had to try at least once.”
But, it is something that Legge understands will not be easy. “I have spent my whole career driving on pavement, so to add dirt in addition to a car I have never driven before I know is going to be very challenging, but I am excited at the opportunity.”
For Brent Cox, Team Principal for Abacus Racing, it was an easy decision to give Legge the opportunity. Said Cox, “Race car drivers are race car drivers. If you have the right racing experience, and you give them time in a car, they will figure it out. I have followed Katherine’s career for a long time, basically since she started racing in open wheel leading to INDYCAR. It will be a challenge, and she is aware of that, but if we can get her testing program in and get her comfortable with the car, it will be a lot of fun to watch her get better and better with laps completed.”
Abacus Racing has test days set up for her and recently announced Chili Bowl teammate Santino Ferrucci to give them both laps in the cars leading to the event in Tulsa. In the eyes of everyone involved, it is the single most important thing to the progress of the program. Continued Cox, “Showing up in Tulsa for the Chili Bowl will be daunting for any rookie, let alone a rookie that has little driving experience in a midget. But, the test will at least allow her to gain a basic understanding of the car, get laps to understand the car and how it works mechanically, and to hopefully get her some experience with another car on track to understand some of the elements of passing and defending her position.”
For Legge, that will be one of the biggest challenges. She elaborated, “I have driven some of the most technologically developed cars in the world. When Brent told me there are no rear-view mirrors, and no radio comms, it made me pause a bit, but then I realized that it’s the same for everyone else, so I would just have to figure it out. I am very excited.”
Abacus Racing is headquartered in Indianapolis and became just the second entrant in the history of USAC to win the USAC Triple Crown when it won the USAC Sprint Car Championship with Logan Seavey in October. In addition to Ferrucci, Legge will also be teammates with Kaylee Bryson who will pilot the Abacus Racing #57 at the Chili Bowl in replacement of Logan Seavey, who will be driving for Kevin Swindell.
The Chili Bowl Nationals begins on January 12, 2025, with practice, followed by five consecutive preliminary feature nights that ends with the final feature night on January 18, 2025. All nights of the Chili Bowl as well as all the USAC races will be broadcast on FloRacing.