Throttle Therapy with Katherine Legge

Katherine Legge is joined by Gail Truess, a championship-winning rally driver who became the first woman to win a national SCCA Pro Rally Championship and later transitioned into pace car, ride, and safety roles around INDYCAR. She recalls discovering rallying in college through a Mazda tire test, learning largely by feel without rally schools or pace notes, and advancing quickly with a pro team and navigator. Also, she&n...

Katherine Legge talks with Tim Baughman, INDYCAR’s Sr. Director of Track Safety and Medical Services, about how motorsport safety works behind the scenes and how it has evolved. Baughman traces his path from Indianapolis paramedic training at Methodist Hospital and a career in the Indianapolis Fire Department to joining the Indy 500 safety team in 1993, traveling with the IRL from 1996, and becoming IINDYCAR’s safety di...

Description Katherine Legge is joined by Dr. Julia Vaizer, medical director for IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the first female medical director in IndyCar history. Vaizer explains how early motorsports fandom and a MotoGP tragedy pushed her to merge racing with emergency medicine, leading her to become the first fellow in the Motorsports Medicine Fellowship and later IndyCar leadership. They discuss how IndyCar me...

Katherine Legge recaps her month of May and her Double Duty attempt. After a Watkins Glen NASCAR Cup return, she joined a newly assembled Indy 500 program, praising the crew and describing setup struggles, conservative downforce choices, and qualifying 26th/27th after drawing last in line. She reveals the travel disruptions that caused her to miss Indy obligations,  the behind-the-wheel perspective from the end to her Indy 500...

Katherine Legge welcomes Marshall Pruett back for a part two focused on IndyCar’s underlying state, who holds power, and how series decisions mix racing, business, and politics. They discuss IndyCar’s demographic, the push to “youthify” via digital platforms, and what IndyCar, IMSA, and NASCAR can learn from each other about cars, drivers, and event presentation. Pruett explains how he evaluates rumors, PR s...

Headed into Memorial Day weekend and her Double Duty attempt, Katherine Legge welcomes NASCAR champion Kyle Larson. Kyle recounts his racing upbringing, starting at age seven in Northern California racing dirt “outlaw carts,” moving into sprint cars, USAC midgets and Silver Crown, and transitioning to NASCAR. Kyle shares his experiences attempting the Indy 500–Coca-Cola 600 double, covering logistics, pressure, we...

Katherine Legge shares an update on her newly announced return to the Indy 500 with HMD Motorsports and AJ Foyt Racing, describing the massive behind-the-scenes effort, sponsor and team coordination, and her push to be as prepared and competitive as possible after a year away from IndyCar (and after a NASCAR season). Joined by producer Grace for listener Q&A, Katherine responds to Stephen A. Smith’s claim that NASCAR driv...

Katherine Legge welcomes racer Dystany Spurlock to discuss her transition from motorcycle drag racing to her ARCA debut, where she had a historic top-10 finish. Dystany recounts starting motorcycle drag racing as a teenager at Virginia Motorsports Park on a Suzuki GSX-R 750, learning through test days, YouTube, and her godfather, and explains the ladder from XDA to NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle, where she debuted last year. A former fo...

Katherine Legge welcomes engineer and team manager-turned-motorsports journalist and podcast host for RACER, Marshall Pruett to trace his racing roots – from his mechanic father to retiring from IndyCar work just to be sucked back in through coaching and engineering before starting his media career. They dig into the tricky dynamics of reporting on friends and break down why “identical” IndyCars still vary so much...

Katherine Legge welcomes F1 culture writer and host of No Grip, Lily Herman, who explains how her Engine Failure newsletter, born from Drive to Survive-era curiosity, and her previous podcast, Choosing Sides, led to her new show that treats F1 like a “traveling circus.” They discuss everything from the astrological placement of drivers and paddock gossip, to F1’s new rules and the F1 Academy.

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Katherine Legge talks with AJ Foyt Racing president Larry Foyt about running an IndyCar team and where the sport is headed. Foyt says AJ first told him “no way” to racing, so he quit other sports, swept floors at the shop, and started in go-karts. They discuss the grind of sponsorship and budgets, why results are about people and culture as much as money, moving operations from Texas to Indianapolis to find talent, work...

Katherine Legge is joined by author of Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trailand Mind Over Mountain host, Cheryl Strayed to discuss their mindsets on endurance. They reflect on how Cheryl’s motto that you can always take “one more step,” mirrors Katherine’s “one more lap” survival during a brutal IndyCar race, fearing she’d let women down if she quit.

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Katherine Legge introduces her mom, Vivienne (“Mama Legge”), on her first-ever podcast to discuss Katherine’s “born without fear” childhood—from walking at eight months and being a nonstop “human dynamo” to a newborn heart issue. Vivienne admits why she can’t watch Katherine race now, and recalls learning about Katherine’s 2006 crash.They laugh about heavy right feet, Dad ...

On this episode of Throttle Therapy, Katherine Legge is joined by longtime friend Melissa Eickhoff, CEO of Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. They discuss the challenges the Pikes Peak course presents, from the weather to the wildlife, and the constant problem-solving involved to make the race happen. They cover safety and driver selection, the heartbreak of shortening the course due to wind and debris, Fan Fest’s 35,000-pe...

On this episode of Throttle Therapy, Katherine Legge is joined by Associated Press senior motorsports writer Jenna Fryer, who talks about her path into journalism, how she began covering racing after Dale Earnhardt’s death, and what it was like learning the sport while navigating tense moments with drivers. Jenna reflects on the hardest stories she has written, including Alonso missing the Indy 500, and previews a new project...

On this episode of Throttle Therapy, Katherine Legge is joined by JR Motorsports co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller to talk about her background growing up in the Earnhardt family, driving late model stock cars, and how she transitioned into the business side of racing. They discuss Kelley’s relationship with her parents, the influence of racing on both sides of her family, and the early building blocks of JR Motorsports. They ...