Katherine Legge saꦡys she wants to make NASCAR her “home” ahead of her second Cup Series start in Mexico City this weekend.

Having become the first f🥂emale driver to contest a NASCAR Cup Series race in seven years at Phoenix in March, Legge will return behind the wheel 🌄of the No. 78 Fast Live Mot💛orsports Chevrolet at Autodrome Hermano Rodrigo on 14-15 June.

Legge, now 44, said having an extended pres🍎ence in NASCAR has been her target ever since she made four Xfinity starts with JD Motorsports in 2018.

“I loved it and wanted to do more, I just didn’t know how to go about it,” Legge told NASCAR.com. “I’m luck🅰y that my sponsors pivoted with me and we’re all in on NASCAR.

“It was something that I felt incredibly passionate about doing. I have so much fun doing it and am so motivated. I’m working hard at it. I really want to maꦏke this home.”

Legge’s highly-anticiꦐpated𓂃 Cup Series at Phoenix ended in disappointment, an accident with the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford of Jo♛sh bringing her outing to a pre♈mature end.

Recalling the race, she said: “It was a big uphill battle, but I respect the challenge and am ꧒not blind that it is a challenge going in with a team that wants to set out to be an entry to people like me into Cup.

“They know where they are at and what they want to achieve. It was going to be my ♈first foray and fly under the radar and that didn’t happen. I wanted to use it to gain experience.”

Live Fast team owner BJ Mc𝐆Leod admitted that it’s difficult for Legge to turn up to a race and be competitive against Cup drivers who race every weekend.

“It’s the toughest thing that 🍌she’s ever come across,” McLeod said. “I don’t know that she would tell you that, but I can tell you that the group of driver💞s that get to do [Cup] every week are truly some of the best drivers in the world.

“All of them are that good. Not one, not 20, not 30, all 36 or however many are there. They truly are that good, and it makes it ⭕extremely difficult for her because even if she’s equally as talented, she doesn’t get to race every week. She is the only part-timer that’s trying to get out there, get up to speed and she has very limited stock car experience.”

Legge has further Cup Series starts lined ๊up in Chicago, Sonoma, Watkins Glen and Richmond. She will also make two additional appearances in the Xfinity Series, having alജready raced five times in NASCAR’s second-tier national series this year.

“NASCAR is especially challenging for the sheer number of good drivers,” Legge admitted. “It’s a tough beast♎ to tame, but I’m up for the challenge.”

“I thought that I was a lot better than I am,” Legge joked. “I have no doubt that I’l🐻l get there. But how quickly? I thought I would drive the car a couple of🅰 times and then be up at the sharp end, but it’s taking a little longer than I anticipated.”