:17:00
I seen this light and I thought
I was going the right direction,
:17:04
and it was a star,
and I just kept following it.
:17:06
I said, "There's a checkpoint.
It's gotta be a checkpoint. "
:17:08
Kept going on. I totally went
to the other side of the coast,
:17:11
which I shouldn't have went to.
:17:12
Out of gas. J.N. Managed to refuel
at a local fishing village.
:17:16
He then crossed the entire peninsula
one more time.
:17:18
Where he ran out of gas again.
:17:20
He had traveled hundreds of miles and
hadn't made an inch towards the finish line.
:17:23
We found him sleeping under a cactus.
:17:26
He says, "I don't have a clue
where I am. Can I follow you in?"
:17:29
I think it took him, I don't know,
14 hours or something.
:17:33
But he slept six of 'em anyway.
:17:35
I'll tell you what.
I don't remember half of it.
:17:37
It was the '60s and '70s, wasn't it?
:17:39
Yeah, the '60s and '70s
were real good to me.
:17:42
Despite the nocturnal adventure.
J.N. And Malcolm
:17:44
would be crowned
the inaugural motorcycle champions.
:17:47
You know, as you go through life,
:17:49
if you knew you were making history,
you would've paid more attention to it.
:17:55
F one man legitimized the Baja 1000.
It was Parnelli Jones.
:17:59
Winner of the 1963 Indy 500.
His presence.
:18:02
Along with fellow competitors
Steve McQueen and James Garner.
:18:05
Gave birth to the Baja mystique.
:18:07
And over the years. Everyone
seems to have raced the Baja.
:18:10
But there's one notable exception
who's never managed to make it until now...
:18:14
the greatest race car driver ever.
Mario Andretti.
:18:16
Great opportunity,
:18:17
and so happy that I did it
because I got some taste of it.
:18:21
Sal Fish invited Mario to be
this year's grand marshal.
:18:24
His mere presence can make
grown men act like schoolchildren.
:18:27
Mario Andretti could've been
anywhere in the world,
:18:30
and he was in Ensenada
at the Score Baja 1000.
:18:33
That, to me, I'll never forget that.
It was a highlight of my career.
:18:36
Say the name Andretti, and that's speed,
that's auto racing. That's it.
:18:40
And it's global.
It's a universal word.
:18:42
He's the best.
I love that guy.
:18:45
I gotta get the car heated up and my seat
buffed 'cause Mario's coming.
:18:48
He's gonna sit right there.
:18:49
For Todd. This culminated
years of hero worship.
:18:52
A chance to bond with his idol.
:18:54
Mario's, I think, taken the bait.
:18:57
He's thinking,
"You know, I can do this. "