Katherine Legge finished 32nd overall at the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico City on Sunday evening. She might’ve had a better result if her shoe did not get stuck to the pedal.
I cannot recall a time where this happened before, ever!
Legge became the first woman to compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race since Danica Patrick in 2018 when she got the start at Phoenix earlier this season. This was her second start on the highest level of stock car auto racing. It did not go well. The 44-year-old finished fifth from last but it could’ve been a lot worse!
She was running just outside the top-20 when she was impacted by an unusual incident. Her pedal stuck to her foot. According to what she said on the on-board radio, it was “literally, welded onto her foot.”
That might be confusing without further context. As I understand it, by foot, she meant shoe. And by welded, she meant melted.
The crew seemed to think the heat of the engine caused the rubber sole of Legge’s shoe to melt onto her pedal. It was stuck and/or sticky, which is less than ideal when it comes to driving in any capacity– let alone at high speeds in close quarters of a NASCAR Cup Series race.
If I were to guess, the pedal box was not properly insulated from the engine and too much heat transferred over to the pedals themselves. Extended contact with the hot pedals caused her soles to stick.
Mind you, no further discussion came from this incident. We do not know the extent of his issue. Nor do we know the solution. However, Katherine Legge was able to continue driving and ultimately finish the race so it must’ve been solved. We just don’t know exactly how!
Regardless of how the problem was fixed, getting a foot “welded” to the pedal does not set a driver up for success. It is no wonder why she dropped from the top-20 to the bottom.