Mary McGee (born December 12, 1936) is an American motorsport racing pioneer. She was the first woman to compete in motorcycle road racing and motocross events in the United States. Starting out as a sports car racer, she competed in motorcycle road racing and motocross from 1960 to 1976, then began competition again in 2000 in vintage motocross events. In 2013, McGee was named an FIM Legend for her pioneering motorcycle racing career. She was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2018.
Early life
McGee was born in Juneau, Alaska on December 12, 1936. She then moved to Iowa to live with her grandparents during World War II as Alaska was considered to be at risk of a Japanese invasion. In 1944 the family settled in Phoenix, Arizona. Eventually she met her husband, Don McGee, who was a mechanic who had worked on the east coast. Shortly after their 1956 wedding Don introduced her to racing cars which eventually led to racing motorcycles. While a tall 5’11”, Mary always described herself as "fast on my feet, fast with my brain, self-conscious and lacking confidence", however she had "no trouble with confidence on the race track".
Sports car racing
McGee began racing sports cars with the Sports Car Club of America in December 1957, driving a Mercedes 300SL owned by George Rice of Phoenix Arizona. She consistently won her races, which earned her media attention. A January 1962 article in Motor Trend started with "Housewives revolt!" and ended with "so ladies if you are bored with freeway traffic, don’t give up. Buy a motorcycle and join Mary McGee." She continued racing sports cars until the summer of 1964. McGee raced a variety of cars including:
AC Bristol
Ferrari Berlinetta
Elva Mark IV
Corvette
Jaguar
Lotus 18
Porsche Spyder
Ferrari Testarossa
Some of the tracks McGee raced on include: Riverside International Raceway, CA Hour Glass Field, CA Phoenix, AZ Tucson, AZ Santa Barbara, CA Palm Springs, CA Del Mar, CA Pomona, CA El Paso, TX Oakland, CA Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA Cotati, CA Miramar, CA Mildland, TX Collidge, AZ Chandler, AZ Stockton, CA Vacaville, CA Salt Lake City, UT Reno, NV Hillclimb, Jerome, AZ
While McGee raced with the California Sports Car Club (Cal Club) and the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), she placed: 1958 3rd over 1600cc class (Cal Club) 1959 3rd under 1600cc class (Cal Club) 1960 2nd E Modified class (Cal Club) 1961 1st over 1500cc Modified class (SCCA) 1962 2nd over 1500cc Modified class (SCCA) 1963 2nd in Pacific Coast Championship 1964 2nd in Pacific Coast Championship
Motorcycle road racing
McGee bought her first motorcycle in 1957, when a friend needed to sell a 200cc 1956 Triumph Tiger Cub. She knew nothing about motorcycles at that time but was willing to learn and ended up falling in love with the sport. The Tiger Cub didn't always start, so she traded it for a Honda C110 that she used to commute to her job as a parts manager at Flint British Motors. In 1960, while she was racing a Porsche Spyder in Santa Barbara, California, the car's owner, Czech race-car icon Vasek Polak, suggested to McGee's husband that she should ride a motorcycle to improve her car-racing skills. When he told her, McGee responded with, "Okay. Why not?"
A female road racer in the United States was a new phenomenon. McGee was already known to be an expert car racer, but the American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) wanted to be sure she could also perform on two wheels, so they told her she'd first have to attend a try-out. She passed the audition and became the first woman to road race and hold a FIM license in the United States – on a 125 Honda CB92 wearing her pink polka-dot helmet. She raced motorcycles from 1960 to 1963. Wes Cooley Sr. was President of AFM during this time. In 1962 Mary had earned enough points in all classes to run the #20 AFM number plate on her bike in 1963. Mary stopped road racing motorcycles in the fall of 1963 when there were coming rule changes for women even though at that point she was the only woman racing; however, these rules did not end up going into effect.