Katherine Legge will, on Sunday, become the first woman in history to attempt the Memorial Day Double — completing the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same calendar day. The Briton joins a list of just five drivers who have previously tried the marathon: John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson.
The 1,100-mile schedule is daunting enough on paper. The reality of it — chartered jet between Indianapolis and Concord, IV drips on the runway, race-suit changes mid-flight — has reduced even seasoned campaigners. Tony Stewart famously collapsed at Charlotte after the 2001 attempt. Kurt Busch tried it in 2014 and dehydrated his way out of contention. Larson abandoned the double earlier in May after a fortnight at Indianapolis, telling reporters he no longer had the appetite for the logistical chaos.
Legge is approaching it like a campaign plan.
"I have spoken to a few people about what I should be hydrating with in regards to like electrolytes and IVs and things like that," Legge told Motorsport Week. "So I'm going to do an IV when I finish the 500 in the plane on the way to the 600. I might need one after the 600. I don't know, I hope I don't collapse."
She has had to design a calorie strategy around a body that, by mile 500, doesn't want food.
"My biggest concern is how to get enough calories because it's probably 2,500 calories just doing Indy, maybe more, and it's another 3,000 calories plus in Charlotte," she said. "I have to force myself to eat on the plane because once you get out of a race car after 500 miles, you don't want to eat. You feel sick. It's hot. It's brutal."
The preparation has not gone perfectly. Practice scrapes at Indianapolis and a bumpy month in NASCAR — where she is signed to Live Fast Motorsports's part-time programme — have eaten into review time and helicopter rehearsals.
"I think this week has been getting everything bad luck-wise out of the way early," Legge said. She has been studying old footage to mentally bridge between the two disciplines: "I wanted to sit down and watch last year's 600 and last year's 500 and switch between the two and get my head in the game and spend time with my engineers."
There is one trade-off she cannot avoid.
"It's preparation or sleep. So there's got to be a compromise in there somewhere."
The mechanics of the Double itself are what wreck most attempts. Sunday's Indianapolis 500 has a scheduled start time of 12:45 pm ET. The Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, North Carolina, drops the green at 6 pm ET. If the 500 runs cleanly and finishes inside its TV window, Legge will jog from her Dale Coyne Racing entry to a helicopter on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield, transfer to a chartered jet at the airport, fly to Concord-Padgett Regional Airport, then helicopter again to the Charlotte Motor Speedway infield. Total turnaround target: 90 minutes.
Chevrolet, which supplies engines to both her IndyCar and her NASCAR Cup entry at Live Fast, confirmed on Thursday it will support the attempt with logistics and personnel. It is the first time the manufacturer has aligned formal Double support with a female driver.
"I hope I don't collapse," she said, half-laughing.
---
*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/katherine-legge-first-woman-memorial-day-double-indy-500-coca-cola-600). Visit for full coverage.*
