Slow Baja - Motorcycle Mary With Mary McGee And Haley Watson

Episode Date: November 2, 2024

“Motorcycle Mary” tells the untold story of legendary motorsports pioneer Mary McGee a.k.a. “Motorcycle Mary”, whose racing career spanned thirty years and saw her shatter gender norms while mastering multiple racing disciplines. The documentary short will feature stunning never-before-seen archival footage and photographs from McGee’s life. “Racing was never just about competition for me—it was about freedom, courage, and pushing myself beyond limits,” says Mary McGee. “I’m proud to share my journey in ‘Motorcycle Mary.’ I hope my story inspires women and shows that with determination, anyone can carve their own path, no matter the odds.” Following in her brother’s footsteps, her remarkable racing odyssey begins in the world of cars, where she outshines her male competitors, only later discovering her greatest sense of freedom racing motorcycles. She was the first woman to race motorcycles in the United States. Confronted by sexism and personal tragedy, Mary perseveres, pushing herself to greater and greater heights—culminating in her most hair-raising challenge: Becoming the first person ever to solo the grueling Baja 500 on a motorcycle. “Motorcycle Mary” is a production of Breakwater Studios.  “Motorcycle Mary”, as part of ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 Shorts catalog, premieres on November 3  at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and will also be available to stream on ESPN+. The short documentary is directed by Haley Watson (in her directorial debut), produced by Rachel Greenwald, and executive produced by two-time Oscar® winner Ben Proudfoot and seven-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton. The film made its world premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival. --From ESPN

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All right, today's guest, today's guest, is Slow Baja alum Mary McGee. A lot has happened to Mary since we last spoke about two years ago. The most important thing of all the amazing things that's happened to Mary since she got on Slow Baja in 2022, she's been inducted into the off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame. That's right, she has. And our guest today, besides Mary, is Haley Wailey Wai. Watson, who made a fabulous documentary about Mary, titled Motorcycle Mary, which has been turned into an ESPN 30 for 30.

So without further ado, we've got Haley Watson and Mary McGee talking motorcycle Mary today on Slow Baja. Mary, you want to say hello? Oh, hello, everyone. Nice to see you. Well, hear you. Thank you for being here. I am Mary McGee, and to my ride is Haley Watson, the famous Haley Watson.

Thank you, Mary. And Michael Emery. Well, hello. Good to see you again. Thank you. Nice to see you again. McGee. Yes?

Didn't you sleep with Don Bohannon once? That was a Baja story. Yeah. I got into the car, I was not the first year. I was driving for Datson, and the car broke down shortly before Elton. El Arco, maybe 30 to 50 miles, and we babied the car into El Arco. It was freezing cold. The tires were, every tire in L.R. A little bitty L. Arco were burning, and it smelled terrible, but it was finally warm. And I walked around the fire just to get warm because it was so bloody cold.

and I looked over to my right, and here's a bunch of motorcycle riders and car drivers that had broken down, or they were halfway riders or drivers, and some of them were on cardboard. Those people had gotten there early enough or broke down or were halfway riders and went to the little store and got all their cardboard. So I went around, turned my body around and around fire to get warm, looked over there at all the people and saw who was on cardboard, and there were two motorcycle riders in leathers, back to back.

They had letters on, and they were back to back. I walked around that fire until I was nice and warm. I walked over there, and I just slid right between them, and they didn't even know I was there. Until the morning, one of the riders said, I slept with Mary McGee. It was Don Bohannon. Well, we jumped right into it here.

Nice to see again. It's been a couple of years. You've gotten kind of famous again since I last saw you. Is that infamous or famous? Well, we'll let the listening audience decide on that. But I'm just going to read a few things here just to get people caught up with who the heck I'm sitting next to. Haley will get to you in a minute. It's all McGee all the time.

All McGee all the time. Hey, so some firsts. You're the F-I-M, the first woman to get an F-I-M license in the United States. I was for road racing. Yeah, the first AFM license. Yes. First woman. First female dirt racer.

Yes, in the Mojave for the desert racing. I was the first person to sign up to actually race in a desert race. Astonishing. First woman. raced the very, very first Mexican 1000. Oh, I did. Before you slept with Dawn. 1967.

Amazing. First woman to finish the Mexican 1000. That's true. And the first person, the first person to solo the Baja 500 on a motorcycle. That's true too. Well, I'm glad we got all that established. You are in the, you are named an FIM legend, and you are an honored guest at Monaco in 2012.

I was. You're in the Trailblazers Motorcycle Club Hall of Fame 2014. Yes. The AMA Hall of Fame 2018. Yes.

There's a McGee Cup in the, what is that, the AVDRA, that's dirt racing, vintage dirt bike racing association.

ADVRAA, antique. Now you got me. I can't encyclopedia right now. I don't know this one actually. Yeah, you're the Desert Racer's Association, the vintage Desert Races Association. There's another McGee Cup in Nora. That's a new development. It is. And you were conducted in the Offroad Motorsports Hall of Fame. I was. I was just two, three years ago. Ast astonishing.

It's wonderful. They're all wonderful people, and I'm very grateful to all of them. Last time I saw you, we were in Ensonata. I only saw you for a second. I was, doing my thing, you were doing your thing. Luckily Haley was there. Geez. I mean, Nora just said, come on down and then left you to your wits. It was a great time. McGee said, let's go. And I was like, okay. Yeah. So it was fun. All right. Well, Introduce new people to Baja. Introduce new people to Baja and refreshed a number of people about who the hell you are. And you were born in December of 1936, as was my dear dad. Oh, December. What day?

17th. I'm the 12th, December 12th, 1936. I'm going to start using your birthday is my passcode instead of his. Got to change it up now and then. Juneau, Alaska. Juneau, Alaska. Yeah. I think you're the only person I've ever met born in Alaska.

Well, when I was born, that was a long time ago, 1936. My mom and dad were divorced, and my mother actually wanted to get. us out of Alaska, but my dad, who happened to be a drinker and a buddy of the judge, had him right into the divorce that my mother couldn't take us out of Alaska. So when the Second World War came and the Navy was going up and down the coast of Alaska saying women and children should get out of Alaska because the Japanese are here. Well, they were up in the Aleutians. They really were there. They had one island in the North Aleutians. So my mother heard this, I was five, my brother was nine, and she put us on the first ship leaving Juneau by ourselves, five and nine, and sent us to Seattle, where a friend of hers picked us up at the ship, and the next day put us on the train to go to my grandparents' farm in Harper's Ferry, Iowa.

Astonishing. And, of course, the curtains were blocked out because of the Second World War. The windows were blocked out. Your nine-year-old brother, you were five. Your nine-year-old brother looked after you on the entire way. Good older brother. He did the best he could. Yeah.

He was nine years old, for goodness sakes. Well, nine years old was older then. Older than five. Yeah. Well, we're going to leap ahead. 1957. You're hanging out with your older brother. He's racing cars.

Mm-hmm. And you were offered a seat and offered an opportunity to drive. It was out of time. trial? There was first a time trial. I drove somebody's, I can't even remember what kind of a car. Well, I think from my notes, you had a chance to jump into Stan Sugarman's Porsche. That's a little bit later. The first thing, 1957 was Stan Sugarman. I went, my husband, I was married. my husband and I didn't go there was a race in Phoenix that's mostly

California people and we didn't go to Saturday to the time trials or the practice but so we went out Sunday morning and Stan Sugarman had a car entered Bill Moore his mechanic was driving it

it was a 300 S.L Mercedes the goal wing so hi Stan hi Mary Mary you want to race my 300 SL? I said sure I believe in always saying yes and then finding out what it's about

Sounds good Nice way to live So I did I raced it in the women's in sedan class It was mostly California people From Cal Club SCCA or SCCA And I spun out and still won

Amazing Oh it was the car, not me Well it was a hell of a car Back of a car Yeah for sure So that led to some stuff You got to drive some other cars. You got to be quite a well-known woman driver, a hot shoe who got to drive some of the

very, very best of the best stuff, Ferrari testarosa's, short wheel-based berlinettas, an elva here, an elva there, a jag, and you got, you came to the attention of Voshek Polack. I did. I did. I was very, after I won that first race, people came up to me and said, said, would you like to race my car? Well, of course, you always say yes. And you're a kid. You're 21, 22 years old. I had just turned 21 in my first race. I was six days shy, but I lied. That's astonishing. That's close enough. I didn't know that detail.

Well, that was close enough. What the heck? Because I said, yes, I'm 21. But I was going to be 21 in six or seven days, so I thought that was... You're 21. 21 enough. Yeah. So Vachek sees you. pull off quite a hot shoe move.

You're watching the flagger. You're watching the starting official. Yes. And you're fully concentrating and he's giving you some clues about when he's going to drop the flag. I watched.

I always watched the flagmen because they always have a tell before they're going to drop the flag. There's always a tell. So this This race, I was lined up, they were lined up two, two, and two instead of three, two, three. Mostly they're three, two, three. This was two, two, two.

I was right here, and I was watching the flagman, and I saw a tell. So when I saw that tell, I just went outside, still on the course, but outside the race cars that are ahead of me, and zoomed up. So by the time he was through with his flag, I was in the front. That's a pretty bold move. They didn't say anything. Now, had you gotten that timing wrong, you would have been disqualified. Absolutely. So it was a pretty, I'm going to say, ballsy move.

But you did it and you got away with it. It seemed straightforward to me. Oh, well, why don't I try this? And then get to the head of the line. that of those people. And so a noted racer, a Czechoslovakian racer, hero to many in the Porsche world, Vasek Polak sees this, and thinks, hey, I like this gal, I like the way she thinks.

I'd like her to come to California and race Porsches for me. He did. He came up to me later and my husband, Don, and he said, I want, yeah, to Merdi. He was from Czechoslovakia. I want her to race my race car. Okay. Well, first of all that meant we had to move to California.

Foshek is in Manhattan Beach. So my husband left in there, our truck, went to California to look for a job and an apartment and so forth. And to get around into my job, I got a 50-cc Honda, C-110. It looks like a motorcycle, a little C-110? Love that little bike. I thought it was a triumph. No. I have that wrong? No, my first motorcycle that I owned was a C110, the 50-cc Honda.

Now, Haley, you're a detail-oriented person. There was a triumph in Mary's life that came from the kid down the street, but it didn't run very well, and she traded it in on that Honda. It didn't run. I think it ran for a total of 20 miles. Wow. Okay. But we only paid $50 for it.

Okay. And got more for it in the trade-in than we paid for it. That's pretty nice. Exactly. So off to California, off to sunny Southern California, and at the time you're there, that's sort of the epicenter of sports car racing in the world. It truly was. All the great sports car racers and cars were in Southern California.

And you rocketed right to the head of the line with one of the most sophisticated, lightweight, exciting cars to drive, but you really had to know how to drive a Porsche RSK Spider. You had to know how to drive. That was a tricky handling little car. I didn't think so. Says the woman who spun a gullwing and still won in the race. It was a good handling car.

It was lightweight, easy to handle, easy to drive. Great, great cornering vehicle. And I really liked it. I didn't spin out. Good car. The driver. It was great fun, and I got to drive. That was the 550 spider, and I drove through,

I drove for him from 57 to 63 for Voshek under Porsche spiders. And then I'm kind of out because the Can-Am cars came in, powerful, and they wanted male drivers. Yeah. And they hired a couple of guys from Voshek was no longer in charge of the racing for Southern California. So the factory hired the guys that came up next and sent them to cars because they were the Can-Am cars. They're speedy, damn fast. Yes, scary.

Scary cars. As much as Southern California was the epicenter of the sports car seen in the United States, sports car racing and all that. It's also the epicenter of film. And you had kind of a brush with a superstar in his day. He was a superstar when you got to know him. Steve McQueen. Oh, Steve was a friend from car racing.

And it was Steve that got me into the dirt. I started road racing motorcycles. We're just glossing over that little fact. 1960. We're glossing over that fact that Vasek Polack said you'd be a better racer in a car if you're riding motorcycles. That's what he said to my husband. They were down on a corner watching the race.

And he said, yeah, to Metti. She should road race to motorcycles, make more smooth than the car. Yeah, and Don, the enabler, says. Don and Vashak came back to the pits and told me their story. I said, I'm not going to race a motorcycle. I don't have to know how to do that. Da-da-da-da-da-da. And Vashik said, yeah, Maddie, you'd be good.

So, and then, Don said, I'll get you a bike. The enabler. He worked for Honda Motor Company. It was before it was American Honda. Made a lot of sense. He got you a bike. Got me a bike.

That's that famous CB 92. And I started road racing. I don't know why I did that. Tell you the truth. Why does anybody just step onto a bike and go racing? Well, I did. And it was a first, and you even had a hard time getting a license and a hard time getting letters.

but you weren't going to be pushed around by the boys. Well, you know, it's mostly their problem, not mine. Says the icon. So, true. So I had to call Wes Cooley, Sr., who was head of road racing, American Federation of Motorcyclists. And he said, well, let me call some guys. So he called me back in a couple hours,

and he said, okay, but you have to try out. Yeah, you're already a seasoned car driver. Car racer racing the absolute best cars in the world, but you've got to try out. I've got to go to Willow Springs. I've got to have leathers. So I went up to Ventura. First I went to Webcoe.

Do you remember Webcoe? Yeah, and they wouldn't measure you. They didn't want to see you in your skivies or they were afraid or something. They were too embarrassed to measure me. So they sent me up to Ventura to the leather makers. So I drove up there, and of course they measured me, and the leathers were ready in three or four days. So fast.

So fast. And that Sunday, I had my tryout. Went to Willow Springs, and I just rode around with a bunch of guys at Willow Springs. You know Willow Springs, the race track. It's a nice racetrack. And I just rode around with the guys, and then I can't. came in and went to the truck, saw it down, I said, anything happening? He said, I don't know.

So then I was walking up to pit lane, and I saw Wes, Cooley, Sr., and I said, Wes, what's happening now? Do I have to race, do I get to race or something with these guys? He said, no, it's all over with. You're in. You can race the next race. Well, in our last conversation, Mary, I was touched because you said that's the only time that you've ever had butterflies. when you had to do that tryout. Now, had you been a man,

you would have just showed up with your leathers and passed tech with your helmet and boots and been allowed to race straight away. But because you were a woman, I had to try out. You had to try out. And it was the only time you said that you ever had butterflies.

Well, I don't remember that, but I might have because I've the thought of having to try out to do something that I knew how to do. It was a little scary thinking. Like, oh my God, What if I make a mistake now? And I haven't made a mistake for a long time.

Well, too bad. That would be my problem. You got through it. So you're fast forward a little bit. You've been racing motorcycles for three-ish years, I think, 19 by New Year's of 63. Okay. You've had some time on the track and you're at a New Year's Eve party. This handsome fella, Steve McQueen.

Oh, yeah. He walks up and goes he said to you. Oh, Steve had been a friend since sports car racing days, and he was at this party along with all kinds of car guys that I knew. And Steve came up to me and said, Mary McGee, you have got to get off that pansy road racing bike and come out to the desert. I, of course, said, ew, and get dirty.

Well, next thing I knew, I was out with some of Steve's pals, riding getting myself under a fence illegally in the tachapes and riding a dirt bike with some of Steve's friends. Now, as folks are listening at home here, this is not Mary panting here.

We've been joined by some of her nephew's dogs and they are very excited to be in on this podcast and they're snuggling in between Mary and I and panting along. I can hear it in the headphones. But Mary, this is, you're racing in the dirt long before Steve McQueen made on any Sunday, which popularized off-road racing for the entire world. Yes.

And introduced everybody to Malcolm Smith and Jay and Roberts and these legends, the Eakins boys. And again, you were doing this stuff well before any of that. And those guys, the Eakins especially, got you down to Baja. Dave. You know, Dave Eakins. He and Bill Robertson, Jr., made Baja famous, I think. They made the first speed run.

They set the record. They went to the... Telegraph station. Telegraph. The telegraph station filled out of telegraph said, we're leaving, got on their bikes, left Tijuana, and headed south to La Paz. And when they got the La Paz, they sent a telegraph. back. We're here. They only had one problem. Bill Robertson Jr. lost a piston.

And his father, in an airplane, had the parts, flew into, I can remember what the town is. Flew into somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It was close to the highway that goes to La Paz. Okay. And fixed his bike up. So he got to finish also, but Dave Eakins was the first into La Paz. So they did the initial run, made the course. It was really, really hot stuff, I think.

So what do you think you learned from riding with some of these legends? Well, they're all interesting people. I never thought of them as legends. I didn't. They were just guys. They were just motorcycle riders. You don't pretend anything that you are or they are. If you have a conversation, it's a conversation.

You just talk. Everybody's regular people. And, you know, you always want to be kind. You always want to be helpful. So in kindness, you always have a conversation. I mean... Not bad. Yeah.

I think if you don't have a conversation with people, how the heck are you going to get to know them? And you do want to get to know your friends. Other than... What's your name again? Yes. Well, we're going to get to know your friend over here who's sitting to your right. Haley Watson, Haley, your filmmaker. Again, we first met down in Ensenada. You were looking after Mary when she was the Grand Marshal of the Nora Baja 500. I think she was looking after me.

She's looking after you. There you go. Look at that. Look at that grin. I love it. You know, we're going to take a break right here. We're going to get a word in from our sponsor. is Baja Baja Baja Baja. We're going to be right back with Haley Watson and Mary McGee. Here at Slow Baja, we can't wait to drive our old Landcruiser south of the border. And when we go, we'll be going with Baja Bound Insurance. Their website's fast and easy to use. Check them out at Bajabound.com. That's Bajabound.com serving Mexico travelers since 1994. A big thanks to those of you who've contributed to our Baja baseball project.

You know, we launched our gear deliveries on my winter expedition. Michael and Matthew from Barbers for Baja. We're along for the ride, and we got to deliver that critically needed baseball gear up and down the peninsula. It was really, truly amazing. And on my last trip, I got to go to the state baseball championships and see some of our alums playing, some recipients of the Baja baseball gear deliveries. And congratulations to Guerrero and Mule Ha, the Austin. De Niro's and the Cardinalitos won silver and bronze at the state championships. Big stuff.

And it's really fun to be there and fun to see them. All right, well, please help us continue this vital work. Make your tax deductible donation at the Barbers for Baja. Click barbers for Baja.org. Click the baseball in Baja link. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really do. It is so amazingly gratifying to be able to give these kids this chance to keep playing this sport. keep them on the field, keep them out of trouble. Please check it out. Baseball in Baja link at barbersforbaha.org. Thank you.

Damn runny nose. Well, we're back with Mary McGeen or damn runny nose. Sorry about that. And Haley Watson. And we're going to talk about what's happened to Mary since we last talked on Slow Baja back in 2022. too, Haley, tell me how you became acquainted with Mary and how you got to make this amazing film that's not out yet. The teaser is out. Motorcycle Mary.

Now, if there's any woman who's worthy of a documentary about her life, it's certainly Mary. But how did you two get acquainted out of this whole film project come about? Yeah. What did we do, Maggie? Well, that's funny that I probably did the interview with Mary for the documentary right before your podcast. But initially, I don't even know if I've told you this story. I was looking for, I do documentary research, I look for stories. And in 2022, I was really fascinated by people that do things by themselves, that have really long solo journeys.

and basically through a series of Google searches, I stumbled upon Mary McGee, Baja 500 solo, first person. And I was like, what's this? Can I just interrupt for a second, Haley? Because that exact thing happened to me. Somebody said I needed to interview a woman who had written through Baja and wrote an e-book, but they couldn't remember her name.

They couldn't remember anything. And so I was literally doing a Google search, woman Baja solo e-book. and Mary McGee's story pops up. I'm like, well, there isn't. I was researching somebody else, but I didn't know the person's name. I said, well, who the hell is Mary McGee?

Ah. This is a person I need to find. Is she still alive? Yeah. Yeah, precisely. I found the web page, I found the Wikipedia page. It had some of the facts that we mentioned earlier. And then I was like, well, how the hell am I going to be able to find this person

and get talked to her. And then I found Mary is very active on Facebook. You have a lot of community there, and she's really engaged with the community there on Facebook. And so I just messaged her, and two days later, she was like, yeah, I'm going to be in Anaheim come out. And I said, okay. And so I went down to Anaheim.

You were at a Supercross event. And you were being honored. Not riding a Supercross. Not riding. Not riding a Supercross. She's giving that up, folks. Yeah. But I forgot what you were being given.

I forget too. But. An honor. One of the many honors she's received. It was, well, I basically were texting before the race and I'm trying to find her. I'm trying to find her. We go in. She's like, oh, yeah, I'm at these seats.

I'm like with a friend of mine and I'm like, my friend goes to seats and I'm walking around trying to find Mary. And I get a text and it says, I think I found her. And I look up and on the jumbo tron is you. and man that that that Anaheim was loud there was like those super cross races they really like the angel stadium the echoes it was really cool and then um mary comes down and i go hey mary i'm haley and she opens her arms and she gives me a huge hug and and uh says hello and that's how we met and then uh we talked we didn't talk much at that race because it was so loud and then um but we we we we we we we we

We texted later and you said, yeah, just come on up to my nephew's house and we filmed the interview in a garage that's right over here about two weeks later. Well, so important that you were able to get here, make the investment time-wise and travel-wise and get here to record this incredible woman's story. And I'm saying it like you're not sitting here next to me, this incredible woman's story, but it's an incredible story. And so how did it go from there to, can I say it's an ESPN 30 for 30? Yeah, yeah. It's a-it-it-an 30-for-30. That's big deal. It's big time. Yeah, we're super proud of that. People are going to see it. Yeah, it's going to be on TV.

Yeah. Major network. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. So we're more than thrilled about that. But yeah, we were here for, and we did an interview, it ended up being a, a very nice hangout and Mary is Mary and she's absolutely wonderful. And then it was a long time in editing and you brought over tubs of photos and newspapers for me, which was phenomenal.

So we had a lot of history that you had held on to for a long time. Well, that's right. Those plastic tubs I had of stuff. Rachel sat over there at the table. Yeah, Rachel, our producer, sat over. over there. It was phenomenal and it was like there was so much, you know, with the history with the archive and then Chris, who's Mary's nephew also found super eight reels from a shed out back and he brought that in here. We went through that. So I think between the interview and

like the material that you kept in those those reels, we were really able to put together something special and really bring to life all of these amazing stories that you have. Well, I've seen it, and it is something truly, truly special. And it's astonishing that that footage exists, and that original archival material exists, and you've held onto it all these years. And now Haley got to get it into a film. And the film is, I mean, stunning. It's a half hour, right? It's 30 for 30? It's 22 minutes. With commercials and all, right? Yes. But it's, it's riveting, absolutely riveting to have your astonishing lifetime of achievements boiled down to 22 minutes. What do you think, Mary? I'm flabbergasted. No, I'm amazed, I'm thankful, I'm grateful.

I don't, I don't, I can't believe that anybody's actually interested in me. I mean, right now I'm 87 years old, so you know, and it's happening to me now. I'm very excited. I'm very excited and I'm extremely grateful. And the pictures we're talking about, I just had in those plastic tubs. You know, they were pictures on the wall being kept pure.

They were all just jumbled up and that's what Haley and Rachel went through. Just looking through those pictures. Newspaper articles, photographs. Yeah, beautiful photography. And some actual film footage of you in action

because there's only a few pictures of you out there on the I know I've posted every one of them to my to promote my podcast with you. And by the way, Mary, I know you know a little something about the number one plate. You said you've never the, you were never the fastest, but you were there. In Slow Baja, I'm coming up, I've done 149 podcasts. I've released your podcast twice. So I was able to release it again during the holidays. I was taking a little break.

So I released it the first time we spoke. and then I re-released it. Now, of the 149 podcasts, you are number three and number four. So if you take both of those and put them together, you are miles and miles and miles ahead of anybody in Slobaha land. So I just want you to say Ivan Stewart, Johnny Johnson, Lynn Cheneth, some of these other Off-road Hall of Famers,

Kurt Leduc, you are miles ahead of these dudes. And I'm just delighted that I get to see you again. Well, thank you. It's wonderful to see you. And I love talking, so this is great. I saw you talking on TV. A number of folks sent the clip to me. You got to meet Lewis Hamilton. Oh, I did.

What an honor. After the... What's the film festival? Tribeca. The Tribeca Film Festival in New York, which I attended because of Haley. Because of Haley. The film premiered there. Yeah, it was lovely.

Mary got to come, and that was like... And that was wonderful. That was great fun. So then my nephew traveled with me. We're at his house now. And then we went up to Montreal, Canada. It's not far. And watched the Formula One race.

Because I have been to a Formula One race. I went to the Formula One race at Riverside in the late 60s. I met Jim Clark. Amazing. I know it. And you raised Formula 2 with the Lotus. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And so we went up to Montreal, Canada, and because of Haley, we got an inn, and ESPN, we got an inn, and we were in the Mercedes hospitality suite, got to meet, went into the garage, the Mercedes garage, talked to mechanics. They told me all kinds of wonderful things, like next year the tires might be two inches narrower. Who gets that kind of information? And how many of these folks do you think knew that you raised a goal wing in 57? I hope that that story preceded you a little bit so that they knew that this lady was royalty,

Mercedes royalty for sure. No, I doubt that. I don't think I was of any importance other than I got to meet. Martin Brundle interviewed you, Formula One racer, turned journalist, and you got to meet Lewis Hamilton. And I got to meet Lewis Hamilton. That was a highlight. He gave me a hug. I saw that.

I saw that. And Haley, can you tell me a little bit about how Lewis became involved? Mr. Hamilton became involved with your film project? After the cut came together, and, I mean, basically the, between ESPN and our production partner, Breakwater, we were able to send it over to Lewis, and he watched it, and he said, yeah, I would, I'd love to EP this film. And I think it's like, Mary's story is very meaningful, and people should hear it. And EP for folks not in the biz?

Executive producer. Yeah. Thank you. Lewis Hamilton, executive producer. Correct. Yeah, something. Yeah, yeah. We're like, again, over the moon.

Like, words cannot even describe how elated we've been about the whole ESPN to be curated into 30 for 30, to be able to have Lewis on as our executive producer and be able to make sure that Mary's story really gets to in front of a lot of eyes. and I hope people get, are very inspired by her story. Can you tell us a little bit about what might be coming as far as when the release and any of those details? I know it's still film festivals and what can you tell us about that? We have, we have some screenings coming up. We premiered, we world premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and we just played at Indie Shorts in Indianapolis. We have an upcoming screening in Los Angeles at the Holly Shorts Film Festival that were very

excited about. It will be on August 17th at 2.30 and the documentary three block. And then there will be a broader release on 30 for 30 and that is still being determined in terms of when that will be. TBD. Mary McGee, or as Haley calls you, McGee. Yes. You said you were never the best, never the fastest, but you were there. That's right. I was there. I was a participant. I would, I knew I was never the best. I was never the fastest, but I wanted to do it because I loved it. It was so much fun. You know, why not?

Why not? Life is short. Life is short. Life is short. Well, I think we're going to leave it right there, Mary. Thank you so much for making a little time to talk to Slow Baja again. Haley, what a delight to have you talking about the film. I can't wait to let the Slow Baja world know when that's coming out.

And Mary, I hope to see your story on TV. soon. Michael Emery, it was so good to see you again. What a pleasure. It was a thank you for coming up for this. I appreciate it. I appreciate your time. Yeah, well, thanks.

I'll make time for you anytime. Oh, thank you. Fly out from Chicago, drive four hours, no problem. You tell me when I'll be here. Just a little short trip. Yeah, it's lovely. All right, well, thanks. Oh, you're entirely welcome.

And thank Haley. Yeah. Oh, no. Only 55 emails with Haley. We're old friends by now. None of this would be happening if it wasn't for Haley and her filming and talking. All right. We're going to leave it right there.

Thank you. Yeah, thanks. We did it. Amazing. Great job, McGee. Hey, well, I hope you liked that one. Mary McGee, 87 years old, finally, finally getting all the accolades that she so richly deserved. Man, alive.

if that woman is the bomb. All right, well, if you like what I'm doing, if you like shows like this, and you're wondering why you're getting, you're not getting more of them, I won't lie to you, I need your help. You've got to drop a taco in the tank. You know, your contributions keep me on the road

making these conversations possible. I mean, honestly, if you don't have any tacos, you know, I get it. Most of the time, I don't have any tacos myself. So drop a five-star review on Apple or Spotify. That's probably where you're listening right now. or YouTube. You know, drop a review. Tell people why you like Slow Baja and why you've been listening. I'm being honest, it's been an awfully long, long time since anyone's left a review. So if you're

listening, and I know you are, I know you are, take a second. Drop that review, please. All right, well, in the Slow Baja shop, I've got some hats, I've got a fresh batch of black shirts, I've got stickers, of course, and there's a smattering of other things. We've got some patches. We've got some pins. Check it out. The holidays are right around the corner and do keep an eye on the slow Baja shop because I've got a new batch of merch flying in so hopefully fly off the shelves before the holidays are upon us. Well, it's the part of the show where I like to tell you about today's super cool guest. You heard all about her on the show, Mary McGee, and her handsome pal Steve McQueen. Steve McQueen. Steve effing McQueen. The coolest cat of the 60s and 70s, the biggest

star. Well, you know, he loved Baja, and he said Baja's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting. You know, people always ask me, what's the best modification that I've ever made to slow Baja? Without a doubt, it's my Sheal Man seats. You know, Toby at Sheelman USA could not be easier to work with. He recommended a Vario F for me and a Vero F XXL for my navigator, Ted. As Ted's kind of a big guy. And Toby was absolutely right. The seats are great and they fit both of us perfectly. And let me tell you, after driving around Baja for over a year on these seats, I could not be happier. Shieldman, slow Baja approved, learn more and get yours at shielman.com.