{"id":98959,"date":"2024-12-02T08:10:38","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T16:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=98959"},"modified":"2024-12-02T08:10:38","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T16:10:38","slug":"mary-mcgee-malcolm-smith-complete-final-laps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/mary-mcgee-malcolm-smith-complete-final-laps\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary McGee, Malcolm Smith complete final laps"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mary McGee at speed – photographer unknown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The off-road racing world lost two two-wheel giants the final week of November. Malcolm Smith, 83, who revolutionized off-road motorcycle competition and Mary McGee, 87, whose off-road exploits on two wheels helped produce a documentary film on her life, both succumbed this week. The documentary on Mary McGee was scheduled for release the day after her death on Wednesday, one day after Smith\u2019s demise.<\/p>\n

McGee, who was born in Alaska yet raised in Iowa during the second World War, was introduced to auto racing by her older brother, who was a racer himself and thought she had the talent and forcefulness to be successful in the sport. He was right, as his younger sibling worked her way through a variety of sports car classes before being persuaded by California race team owner Vasek Polak to test and race a Porsche Spyder, the marque his team utilized in competition.<\/p>\n

She was immediately successful and, later, it was again Polak who again convinced the young lady to try her hand at two-wheeled motorsports; she was, once more successful at the endeavor. Polak wasn\u2019t the only one to guide Mary McGee through the variety of motor sports available to her: the late actor and racer Steve McQueen was the one who introduced McGee to the Baja 500. It was there that she would set a record as the first person, man or woman, to complete the Mexican 500-mile race solo, a feat she performed in 1975.<\/p>\n

Mary McGee was the first woman to race motocross in the United States, first to race in an international motocross race and the first woman to receive sponsorship assistance from major brands, enabling her to compete at such a high level.<\/p>\n

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“Motorcycle Mary” debuted globally one day after her death – photographer unknown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The film about Mary McGee\u2019s life, \u201cMotorcycle Mary\u201d, <\/i>was co-produced by seven-time Formula One World Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton and two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot. It was directed by Haley Watson and made its competitive premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this past June. The documentary became globally available on Thursday, November 28.<\/p>\n

Once her family acknowledged McGee\u2019s passing at her home in Gardnerville, Nevada, due to complications from a stroke, tributes began to pour in. Hamilton said, \u201cI\u2019m deeply saddened to hear that Mary McGee, the first woman to road race motorcycles in the U.S. and the first person to solo the Baja 500 has passed on. My condolences to her family and everyone who she\u2019s inspired,\u201d he intoned on Instagram<\/i>. \u201cHer legacy will live on as a trailblazer in the world of motorsports and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Documentary director Watson agreed: \u201cI\u2019m deeply saddened by this news, but I am comforted to know that Mary was surrounded by friends and family at the time of her passing,\u201d he said. \u201cIn early 2022, I was researching stories when I came across Mary\u2019s. That discovery marked the tipping point into uncovering a much larger and truly incredible career in motorsports and life journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary McGee\u2019s family, while not divulging any funeral or memorial plans, paid tribute to their fallen clan matriarch by stating, \u201cMary embodied resilience, grace and optimism. She was a historic athlete and a motorsports pioneer, who embraced life\u2019s challenges, cared deeply for others and made time to brighten the lives of those around her,\u201d they said on social media. \u201cWhile we are deeply saddened by this loss, we are comforted knowing that her light will continue to shine in everyone she touched.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMary [McGee] was the sweetest woman ever,\u201d remarked Steve Bauer, one of Southern California\u2019s most successful motocross riders, who won hundreds of races and the 1978 AMA 250 Western Regional Motocross championship. He was selected to the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame i 2021. \u201cShe loved life and so enjoyed all the attention she was getting late in life. She was just as cool as it gets.\u201d The rider had a long-term friendship with Malcolm Smith and said, \u201cMalcolm was a great man who would go out on a limb if he believed in you. He was a master on a motorcycle and one of my proudest moments (in racing) was a chance meeting with Malcolm, who put his arm around me and said, \u2018Just a couple of old Riverside boys.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Malcolm Smith with his motorcycle – photographer unknown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Malcolm Smith, a Canadian who made his home in Southern California\u2019s Riverside County, was a five-time overall winner of the Baja 1000, twice on motorcycles and three times in cars. He won the Baja 500 four times (one motorcycle victory and three in cars) and twice secured victory in Nevada\u2019s Mint 400, all of them grueling competitions.<\/p>\n

Growing up in San Bernardino, CA, Smith started his illustrious career in 1956, riding a 1949 Matchless 500cc bike in a variety of local Moreno Valley competitions. He was later associated with Husqvarna motorcycles, and Smith\u2019s fame grew as he won a good number of prominent races in both the 1960s and 1970s. Smith\u2019s capabilities in long-distance competition gained him eight gold-medal results in the International Six-Day Trial during the decade between 1966 and 1976.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s exceptional off-road exploits on two wheels were cited when he joined the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1978, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1996 and the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. Smith was inducted into his local Riverside Sport Hall of Fame in 2010. He was prominently shown in Bruce Brown\u2019s iconic \u201cOn Any Sunday\u201d <\/i>documentary that also celebrated the riding career of actor Steve McQueen and featured the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix motorcycle race.<\/p>\n

Following his retirement from competitive riding, Smith began his Malcolm Smith Gold Medal Products company that developed and produced both tools and riding gear for motocross competitors. The company later became Malcolm Smith Racing (MSR) and was purchased by Tucker Rocky Distributing. Smith\u2019s motorsports dealership in Riverside, Calif. serviced the off-road community and was a family affair, with wife Joyce and two of his four children helping to operate the firm.<\/p>\n

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) president, Rob Dingman gave tribute to Malcolm Smith\u2019s long career: \u201cMalcolm Smith embodied so much of what\u2019s good about motorcycle enthusiasts and the sport of motorcycling. Not only did he excel in riding, racing and business, but Malcolm was also a great example of how to get the most out of motorcycling and give back and support our sport, which he did during much of his life – and always with a grin.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Smith was on the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix poster – photo courtesy SCORE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the final two decades of his long life, Smith battled Parkinson\u2019s disease. He passed away at his home in Riverside, CA surrounded by his family. Smith is survived by his wife Joyce, daughters Louise and Ashley, sons Joel and Alexander, together with five granddaughters and three grandsons. He enjoyed watching his granddaughters learn to ride motorcycles and encouraged their participation on two wheels.<\/p>\n

During his long life, Malcolm Smith was a rider, a racer, a gold medalist in his sport. He was a shop technician, a service manager, a repair shop owner, an aftermarket parts distributor, a retail store operator. He functioned as an actor, as a race and life sponsor, a philanthropist, an advocate for motorcycling, father, grandfather and friend to many, both inside and out of the sport of motorcycling.<\/p>\n

Cycle World\u2019s <\/i>editors noted, Malcolm Smith was \u201ceveryman\u2019s motorcyclist, an enthusiastic, fun-loving, driven and talented example of what motorcycling could do and be for the everyday enthusiast, and how the sport could affect our lives in unimaginable ways.\u201d Funeral and memorial services are pending for Malcolm Smith. The family kindly requests, in lieu of flowers, that donations go to Smith\u2019s favorite charity, the Malcolm Smith Motorsports Foundation, which supports the children of Baja.<\/p>\n

In his acclaimed 2015 autobiography, Malcolm Smith wrote his own final chapter: \u201cIt all started for me on March 9, 1941, in a small, rural hospital in the village of Ganges, on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWhere it will end, no one knows, but you can be sure I\u2019m going to enjoy every minute I have left, with a smile on my face and my family near. Can\u2019t ask for more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Saying goodbye to two giants of motorcycle racing.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":98962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4802,3470,5029],"tags":[11247,11246,11243,11242,11244,11241,11245,7859,6374],"class_list":["post-98959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motorcycles-and-powersports","category-news","category-racing","tag-american-motorcyclist-association","tag-cycle-world","tag-husqvarna","tag-malcolm-smith","tag-malcolm-smith-racing","tag-mary-mcgee","tag-on-any-sunday","tag-score","tag-steve-mcqueen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Mary-McGee-min.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-pK7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98959"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98968,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98959\/revisions\/98968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}