Sue Mead wasn’t always a hall-of-fame automotive journalist. She started her career, in fact, as a floral designer before stints in the mental health care field.

Ms. Mead got her foot in the door covering news for local and regional outlets, as well as The Associated Press. In 1982, she started as a “shooter” photographer who worked on feature stories and news writing, but a brush with death, because of an autoimmune illness, convinced her she had to switch things up and see the world.

She has done that, and then some.

Bailey Campbell, on the other hand, comes from a family of off-road racers. What were off-pavement adventures as a kid turned into a career with major race wins — at just 23.

In 1996, with the stench of mud baked on hot car parts wafting into the air, spectators and competitors were eagerly awaiting the start of the Baja 1000 — a brutal annual race in Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. With her own days as an off-road racer ahead of her, Ms. Mead was there, not only to cover it but to race as the co-driver to an off-road legend.