New Documentary 'First To The Finish' Shines Light On Mazda MX-5 Cup As Well As Women In Motorsports

After the massive success of Netflix’s Drive To Survive, which helped Formula 1 get a foothold in the United States, just about every racing series and every sport has tried to replicate that — for lack of a better word — formula, oftentimes by pumping up storylines and rivalries in the name of drama.

The Mazda MX-5 Cup didn’t need to do that for its new docuseries, First To The Finish, which is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.

It also goes a step further by shining a light on what it’s like for women in motorsports, and not just as a driver.

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I’ll admit it, I was only tangentially familiar with the Mazda Mx-5 Cup before digging into the series and having the opportunity to speak to a pair of the stars of the new series, driver Heather Hadley and owner and team principal Shea Holbrook. When I was in St. Petersburg a few weeks back, I caught a bit of action from the series, which held its third and fourth races of the season in support of IndyCar.

It’s an interesting series in that the cars are relatively affordable (by racing standards), which allows drivers to compete for different reasons. Some drivers have made a career in the series, while others are young drivers looking to make a name for themselves.

Throw in some serious prize money and cars that are small, nimble, and robust enough to take some serious on-track bumps, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a series that doesn’t need to manufacture drama.

The authenticity really shines through, and I think a big reason for that might be that the series’ subjects didn’t have much time to prepare before they were on track with camera crews following them around.

Holbrook told me that after plenty of time spent working to make the series a reality, she thought it was shelved until just days before the 2024 season opened in Daytona.

"And then three days before we show up to Daytona for the 2024 season, Jonathan Applegate, the head of Mazda motorsports, calls me and says, ‘Get ready, girl. We're going,’ Holbrook recalled. "And I was, I was I was really like, I was really shocked, you know? I was so shell-shocked that I didn't really even have time to process it."

Driver Sally Mott's rookie season the Mazda MX-5 Cup is chornicled in the series. (Photo courtesy of Mazda USA)

Hadley — who, along with rookie Sally Mott, are the two drivers the series focuses on the most — said she was still in shock over the project.

"Still in shock, just with the opportunity and just the stage that, you know, we all kind of got to be able to share our stories and go kind of deeper into what it takes to do what we do," Hadley said.

This is what set this series apart from all of the other "fly-on-the-wall" documentaries. Sure, it’s neat to see Max Verstappen flying in a private jet all over the world, but that’s not exactly relatable to the average viewer.

Do you know what is? Hadley and Mott’s family’s doing whatever they can and making incredible sacrifices to help them achieve their racing dreams. Holbrook juggling life as a wife and mother while trying to run a racing team — BSI Racing — that fields around six cars on an average race weekend and making sure that her employees and their families are taken care of.

Now, that’s a bit more relatable than an F1 driver spending an off-week in Tahiti.

After cleaning up in carting and in Legends cars, driver Heather Hadley is making a name for herself in the Mazda MX-5 Cup. (Photo courtesy of Mazda USA)

Driver Heather Hadley Talks Her Motorsports Beginnings And Competitive Nature 

Last season was Heather Hadley’s second season in the Mazda Mx-5 Cup, during which she raced for Holbrook’s BSI racing.

The Vallejo, California native juggled college at UNC Charlotte while competing as one of just two women in the series, alongside Mott.

Somewhat unusual in a sport that features a lot of drivers who come from a long line of drivers, Hadley’s family wasn’t into racing until she discovered it at a young age.

"So, my dad kind of took it upon himself when I was growing up to introduce me to a bunch of different sports," Hadley said. "We didn't have any background in motorsports whatsoever, and we decided to try out indoor go-karting at our local facility when I was nine years old. 

"And at first it was like, there's a lot for my nine-year-old self to handle all at once. But the second race, I won that race, and then third race I won. And then I started to kind of get the hang of things."

And, boy, did she ever get the hang of it. She won multiple karting championships and even completed 503 races at one indoor karting facility with a 100% winning percentage, which led to her being ranked No. 2 out of 355,842 people.

From there, Hadley got a Legends car and one more championship before making the leap to the Mazda MX-5 Cup for the 2023 season.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the series involves Hadley and Mott’s relationship. During the 2024 season, the two were the only female drivers in the field and that meant that they were the only ones competing to be the highest-finishing female at a given race, which came with a cash prize.

It’s fascinating to watch the two as they’re the only ones in the field who understand what it’s like to be a woman on the grid, but then have to compete.

And they certainly compete hard.

"I want people to see just what women in motorsports are typically having to deal with and also just that — at the end of the day — we're just like the men in the field. We’re hard-working, and we want the same things. We want to win. We're very competitive, and we want the same things at the end of the day."

BSI Racing owner and team principal Shea Holbrook is one of the key players in the new Mazda MX-5 Cup documentary series, <i>First To The Finish</i>, streaming now on Amazon Prime. (Photo courtesy of Mazda USA)

Owner And Team Boss Shea Holbrook Hopes Series Shows Women And Girls That Careers In Motorsports Are Accessible

If there’s anyone who understands what Hadley is talking about, it’s BSI Racing owner and team principal Shea Holbrook.

Holbrook started as a competitive water skier before jumping to motorsports, where she was a decorated driver in sports car and touring car racing and even competed in the all-female open-wheel series, the W Series, which is the spiritual predecessor to today’s F1 Academy.

In 2021, Holbrook and her husband, Nick Chorley bought BSI Racing, a team that by that point had been around for several decades.

Now, the team fields as many as nine cars on a Mazda MX-5 Cup race weekend and has already produced high-end talent, including full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series and part-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Connor Zilisch.

It’s that diverse background that has helped Holbrook jump into her role leading a team, one that, looking back, she was always on a trajectory for.

"I've always, from the very beginning, wanted to be a leader, not from the egotistical side of it, just knowing that I could help motivate people, and we could come together as a team for a common goal," she said. "So whether that was in soccer, water skiing, motor sports, team, ownership, whatever it might be, and then I just really got driven on the business end of it. 

"You know, as a race car driver — I think [for] traditional athletes, you are an athlete, and then you become an entrepreneur," Holbrook continued. "And then in motorsports, you have to be both from day one in order to be successful."

The documentary is sure to help more people understand what it's like for women to jump into the traditionally male-dominated world of motorsports, but as Holbrook noted, things are certainly getting better, and she hopes the documentary inspires more girls — and adult women — to take an interest in the sport.

"I mean, I think it's going to be so much easier at this point; I really do," Holbrook said. I think you're going to find that the six-year-old girl to the 45-year-old mom is going to watch this show and say, 'Man, I never thought that motor sports was an accessible sport or career for me.'"

Having seen a bit of the documentary already, I think Holbrook is right on the money.

You're going to see a lot of young girls and maybe even grown woman hitting their local carting tracks thanks to seeing Hobrook, Hadley, and Mott in action and that's a very cool thing.

Be sure to catch the First To The Finish, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime, and don't miss the next round of the Mazda MX-5 Cup when it heads to Alabama's Barber Motorsports Park for a double-header weekend May 2 through 4.