Katherine Legge has completely changed the narrative around her time in the NASCAR Cup Series. Since making her debut earlier this year at Phoenix Raceway, Legge has made steady progress over her last three starts.

That was never more evident than during last Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She put together her best performance to date, finishing 17th while driving the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports.

In the process, Legge also became just the 21st driver to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. She impressed many, but Denny Hamlin specifically had some nice things to say about her on the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. 

“Very noteworthy,” Hamlin stated, regarding Legge’s performance. “I just feel as though, ‘Wow, she’s getting a lot out of that car.’ Now, in practice, I would have said, ‘Whoa, holy cow. Danger, danger, you know, No. 78 car.’ But you know, they don’t have any testing. Probably no data or anything like that. So, when they hit the racetrack for the very first time, who knows where their travels are at? Like, are they hitting the track? Are they not? They’re one of those teams that puts their thumb in the air and it’s like, ‘I think we need to probably be here this weekend.’

“… It can’t be stated how impressive she’s been. I mean, staying on the (leap lap). It’s not like she’s getting five lucky dogs, and getting back on the lead lap and squeaking a finish out. Like, she’s staying on the lead lap at these racetracks, and battling some of our better drivers for teens finishing position. That’s with a car that is clearly not up to snuff, compared to what she’s racing up against. … She optimized her day (at Indianapolis).”

As Hamlin noted, what Legge is getting out of her equipment is majorly impressive. He’s far from the only one who’s been made a believer in her talents, as Kevin Harvick also waxed poetic about Legge’s on his Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast.

“She did great. I’ve been super impressed with the progression of her and her performance,” Harvick said. “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.”

All told, Katherine Legge is improving each time she gets behind the wheel in the Cup Series. She’s certainly proving she can handle the rigors of NASCAR’s top competition, and moving forward she’ll be a fascinating driver to keep an eye on whenever she’s on the track. 

— On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article.