Katherine Legge’s recent achievements, capped by a strong finish at the Brickyard 400, have reignited debate around Kevin Harvick on NASCAR team testing and the league’s testing restrictions. Harvick, reflecting on Legge’s journey, forcefully called out NASCAR teams for holding back the progression of rookie drivers through their resistance to more generous testing opportunities.
Legge, competing for Live Fast Motorsports, completed her best NASCAR Cup Series performance at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by finishing 17th, marking significant progress since her initial Cup debut at Phoenix Raceway earlier this season. Her drive made her only the twenty-first athlete to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400, placing her among a select group of multi-discipline racers. Kevin Harvick expressed his admiration for Legge’s recent progress and work ethic, noting her determination and steady development on his Happy Hour podcast.
“She did great. I’ve been super impressed with the progression of her and her performance,”
—Kevin Harvick, NASCAR Champion
Harvick acknowledged the doubts raised after Legge’s challenging first Cup start, but credited her consistent improvement, saying her results in Indianapolis reflect positive momentum for her and her race team.
“I think after the way it started, everybody had a lot of questions of is this just a gimmick. But she continues to get better. I think when you see a finish like this on an oval, we’re going in the right direction. Kudos to her and her team for what they did. … I think the criticism was well deserved and fair. But I also think the kudos are well deserved and fair, too.”
—Kevin Harvick, NASCAR Champion
Legge’s Strong Indianapolis Run Highlights Difficulty for Rookies
Katherine Legge worked her way from 38th on the starting grid to a top 20 finish, relying on strategic racing, particularly during Stage 3, and briefly racing in the top five before her last pit stop. This marked her second top-20 finish in just five Cup starts, an impressive feat considering every track presents her first in-person experience in the Next Gen car due to restricted pre-race preparation.
NASCAR Testing Policy Under Fire
Much of Legge’s challenge comes from NASCAR’s tight rules regarding practice and testing. The current policy keeps all drivers, especially Cup Series newcomers, from gaining important experience at unfamiliar tracks. Harvick attributes the slow development of potential stars to team influence, arguing that organizations are the main obstacle to revising the system:
“Katherine Legge is a prime example of the flaws in our testing system,”
—Kevin Harvick, NASCAR Champion
Harvick detailed how teams’ reluctance to allow more testing has created a cycle where new drivers struggle unnecessarily to adapt. He criticized organizations for prioritizing cost savings and exploiting their leverage under current charter agreements, which grants them substantial say in any procedural changes. Harvick maintains that with team cooperation, NASCAR would enact more reforms to benefit young and less experienced drivers.
“But the testing policy is another piece of the puzzle that I wish they would adjust a little bit for the rookies and the younger people to have some more of those test sessions. Even if NASCAR says they’re going to have testing sessions at four tracks for whatever days it is, I think that people like Katherine, Riley Herbst, Jesse Love — as different as these cars are to drive compared to [others], even if they took it from the more experienced guys and restructured the testing policy so that it was for the younger drivers to get more developed, I think it would be more beneficial for the sport so it doesn’t take three years to get your Cup driver developed. You’re just doing it by racing and some of them lose their job before they even get started.”
—Kevin Harvick, NASCAR Champion
Calls for Change and What Lies Ahead
Harvick’s comments have intensified the conversation around how NASCAR develops its young drivers, drawing attention to rookies like Riley Herbst and Jesse Love as further examples of the sport’s steep learning curve. Without testing sessions, new Cup drivers must learn while racing, often risking their roster positions before fully acclimating to the demands of the series.
If NASCAR teams reconsider their opposition to additional testing for rookies, competitors like Legge may reach their potential sooner and the series could see a broader talent base. With pressure mounting from prominent voices, the spotlight is now on teams, league officials, and the wider NASCAR community to address whether current testing restrictions best serve the sport’s future growth and competitiveness.
