I've followed Mary for years, (probably ever since that in car video made the big screen) and hopefully I'll finally get to meet her in person at the CAM East Challenge in a couple of months.
I liked the 4 phases of an autocrosser she laid out...nailed it perfectly.
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Lance
1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car
Great interview! Great person, I remember Mary jumping out of her Dodge Omni and hot lapping Father Riley's Cobra back in the days when I ran my 69 Z/28 at the Pleasanton Fairgrounds......not the crappy little course they use now, we used the whole "swap meet" parking lot back then (fast time of day was usually set by a guy named Jack McDonnell in a Lotus 70 Formula 5000 car)
I also remember Larry Park stuffing his 63 Vette through the fence when the throttle stuck one day....almost all the way out onto the roadway.
There is a group of Vette racers in Nor Cal that meet on Thursday nights for dinner, I remember Steve Hobaugh discussing how they were going to run the Good Guys event in the 65 Fuely Vette. The next time I saw someone I asked how Brian had done....someone said he was beaten by "some chick in a Camaro" at the Good Guys event.....Mary Pozzi....later someone clued me in....Pozzi....you probably remember her as "Rice"....upon hearing that name...it all made sense......that's no "chick in a Camaro" that's an "AutoX cyborg" parading around as an innocent happy girl....Mary has always been one to watch when she is out negotiating an AutoX course, one of the All Stars of SoloII.
No truer words have ever been spoken...salt of the earth good peeps.
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'67 Buick Skylark GS400 Funny Car "Ingenue"...World's only Buick-powered Buick Funny Car/Aug '10 Hot Rod featured car World's only Buick-powered Buick Funny Car!
Thanks everyone! We started doing this stuff long ago and it's been a great hobby. I learned in the early days there are a lot of ups and downs and it can mess you up if you hang all your self-worth on doing well at a particular event. Win or lose the next event is coming up in a week or two, so you have another chance at redemption or failure, - again. It can become an emotional roller-coaster. Taking the long-term view, you realize you want to average out well but won't win 'em all, so you better be kinder to yourself, (& others) "hope for the best but expect the worst, it leaves no room for disappointment".
Mary does well because she LOVES Autocross and driving! Combine that with intelligence and drive and you have a winning combination. She's very social at events, but when the helmet goes on, she's very focused and a natural competitor. I'm very proud of our Pro-Touring community, & Autocross in general. We compete, but are very supportive of each other. That's why we keep doing it.