KATHERINE LEGGE Reveals How Right Team Environment Transformed Her Into Winner

November 27, 2025

• KATHERINE LEGGE opens up about how the right team environment literally transformed her racing approach, explaining on her Throttle Therapy podcast that her breakthrough came when Polestar Racing’s Jim and Pam Griffith didn’t just give her a ride—they made her family. Living with them in Ohio, she got daily education on diffs and suspensions while feeling the weight of their investment, which pushed her to win her debut Atlantic race at Long Beach as the first woman to capture a developmental open-wheel victory in North America.
• The accountability factor became LEGGE’s secret weapon at both Polestar and later Michael Shank Racing, where owner Mike’s perfectionist micromanagement style created what she calls “daddy issues”—desperately wanting his validation drove her to new performance levels. This wasn’t about being coddled; it was about being held to impossibly high standards by people who genuinely invested in her success, creating a racing version of herself that was “much more intense” behind the wheel.
• LEGGE takes a nuanced view on privilege in NASCAR, noting that while money gets you access, the mental game separates pretenders from champions. She’s seen drivers who got everything “on a plate” fail because they didn’t appreciate the opportunity, but also acknowledges newer privileged drivers who seem to understand what they’ve got. Her point cuts through the noise: talent alone won’t get you everywhere—it’s the culture and people around you that determine whether you reach your peak or get buried in mediocrity.

atlantic championship, michael shank racing, open-wheel racing, polestar racing