NASCAR star opens up on 'challenges' facing Katherine Legge in Double Duty attempt

NASCAR star Austin Cindric has opened up on what he believes are the biggest challenge facing Katherine Legge as she prepares to run both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 this Saturday.

Legge is aiming to be the sixth driver ever to even compete in both races on the same day, and the second after Tony Stewart to complete the full 1,100-mile day.

Speaking to the media this week ahead of the NASCAR Crown Jewel race, Cindric pointed at the Coke 600 as probably the more challenging half of the challenge for the 45-year-old, who has raced the Indy 500 four times in the past.

He warned that her team's lack of experience in the NASCAR race – Live Fast Motorsports has only entered the race three times, and not since 2023 – will prove troublesome, with her status as a part-time driver also a concern as she attempts one of the most gruelling challenges in racing.

Cindric called Legge's attempt at making history 'awesome', and confessed to hopes that the weather would play ball to allow the attempt.

NASCAR TODAY: NASCAR Today: 2027 Hall of Fame class announced as Kurt Busch set for racing return

Team Penske star: Coke 600 is the greater obstacle to completing Double Duty

Asked about the attempt on Wednesday morning, he said: “She’s run the 500 quite a few times. I don’t know how many, but she was running the Indy 500 when I was a teenager.

"I’m not gonna say it’s a walk in the park there, but I think the Coke 600 is definitely maybe the greater challenge just due to the lack of experience that she has driving stock cars with as challenging as the track is at Charlotte, but also it’s not like she’s getting in a car or with a team that has a bunch of data and notes on how to go make a car go fast at Charlotte if I’m going honest.

"I’m not taking anything away from the effort there. I think the fact that she’s doing it is awesome. The list of drivers and names that you see who have done it, they are some of the best of the best and I think year over year and with some of the accomplishments she’s had in IMSA she’s had a great career.

"If I was at the stage in her career that she is, I would think that would be a very cool thing to accomplish. All the power to her to get it all done, and I hope she gets uninterrupted with no weather and all that, and I hope she gets to do all of it. It’s a cool thing to do and it’s something that I always like to understand what it all takes to make that happen.”

Cindric: Double Duty physicality will be a challenge

Asked specifically about the physical endurance needed to run 1,100 racing miles in a day, he said: “It’s a great question because I don’t know, if I’m a well-conditioned Indy Car driver that races every week, I don’t know what that takes out of you doing the Indy 500.

"I’m sure it would be more challenging not being used to that, but I can tell you that as a rookie in the NASCAR Cup Series and as someone that’s been in the series for five years now, the physical toll is much less just due to the fact that my body is conditioned to that. I would say that could be a large challenge, just for the fact that she doesn’t race full-time in either.

"That plays a huge role in driver fitness, driver stamina. The challenges that you go through physically and mentally throughout a race, so I don’t think it’s gonna be a walk in the park at all. It would be different if you were full-time in at least one of the racing series. I think that could be one of the larger challenges for sure."