Katherine Legge fails to qualify, but will still run NASCAR Xfinity race

Katherine Legge was aiming to qualify for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity race at Rockingham in the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet. It’s part of a plan for her to run a dozen races this year between the Cup and Xfinity Series, but things did not go her way.

Legge bobbled at the tricky exit of Turn 2 and lost valuable time in the process. Her 23.397s lap was still enough to beat five other drivers, but due to a lack of car owner points, she ended up being one of the two drivers to miss the 38-car field. The other driver who failed to qualify was Dawson Cram in the No. 74 Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet.

However, her DNQ is not the end of the story. Legge will still take part in Saturday’s race — the first NASCAR Xfinity race at Rockingham in 21 years. With financial backing from e.l.f. cosmetics, a ride swap was made possible with another Chevrolet team. She will instead pilot the No. 53 Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet, which was originally qualified by veteran journeyman driver J.J. Yeley. 

The team is scrambling to get the seat ready for Legge in this unexpected swap. The green flag is set to wave just after 4 p.m. EST. This will be Legge’s sixth career start in the Xfinity Series and her first on an oval since Richmond in 2018. She did compete at the Phoenix oval earlier this year, but that was in the Cup Series.

Connor Zilisch earned pole position for the Xfinity race, beating Parker Retzlaff by just 0.001s. However, a flat tire after his pole lap means Zilisch will have to start from the rear of the field. And making his first NASCAR start in nearly seven years, Kasey Kahne qualified an impressive fourth on the grid.