Dust to Glory Page #5

You telegraph the time you leave

and you pick up the telegraph

and check in your time

when you get to La Paz.

That's the only way

you could document it.

There wasn't anybody down here with

helicopters flying in those days to follow us.

When promoter Ed Perlman announced

plans for the inaugural Mexican 1000,

race legend Malcolm Smith

immediately thought of two things...

get J.N. Roberts for his partner

and buy a map.

I tried to get him to read

the guidebook so he'd know his way.

He said, "I don't need any guidebook.

I can always find my way."

On the day of the race.

The press was told

the first vehicle would arrive

at San Ignacio, the halfway point,

at around 5 a.m.

Malcolm arrived at 5 p.m.,

a full 12 hours earlier.

and eight hours ahead

of the next vehicle.

As evening settled in,

J.N. began his journey

guided by a weak front headlight

and a unique sense of direction.

I seen this light and I thought

I was going the right direction,

and it was a star,

and I just kept following it.

I said, "There's a checkpoint.

It's gotta be a checkpoint."

Kept going on. I totally went

to the other side of the coast,

which I shouldn't have went to.

Out of gas, J.N. managed to refuel

at a local fishing village.

He then crossed the entire peninsula

one more time,

where he ran out of gas again.

He had traveled hundreds of miles and

hadn't made an inch towards the finish line.

We found him sleeping under a cactus.

He says, "I don't have a clue

where I am. Can I follow you in?"

I think it took him, I don't know,

14 hours or something.

But he slept six of 'em anyway.

I'll tell you what.

I don't remember half of it.

It was the '60s and '70s, wasn't it?

Yeah, the '60s and '70s

were real good to me.

Despite the nocturnal adventure,

J.N. and Malcolm

would be crowned

the inaugural motorcycle champions.

You know, as you go through life,

if you knew you were making history,

you would've paid more attention to it.

If one man legitimized the Baja 1000,

it was Parnelli Jones.

Winner of the 1963 Indy 500,

his presence,

along with fellow competitors

Steve McQueen and James Garner.

gave birth to the Baja mystique.

And over the years, everyone

seems to have raced the Baja.

But there's one notable exception

who's never managed to make it until now...

the greatest race car driver ever,

Mario Andretti.

Great opportunity,

and so happy that I did it

because I got some taste of it.

Sal Fish invited Mario to be

this year's grand marshal.

His mere presence can make

grown men act like schoolchildren.

Mario Andretti could've been

anywhere in the world,

and he was in Ensenada

at the Score Baja 1000.

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