Road rallies are long distance race on open roads usually at unsafe and illegal speed in expensive and exotic cars. The latest most famous one is the Gumball Rally.
It didn’t take long for a few of this years Gumball 3000 competitors to get into a little more trouble than they bargained for. The benefit that most competitors have is that they are foreigners, and having their license suspended in a foreign land is no big deal, and if they have the money to participate in the rally a few thousand dollars worth of speeding tickets probably won’t affect them too much. However, it has been reported that a few of the drivers pacing themselves at ridiculous speeds, like 170 MPH, have been getting a little more than a slap on the wrist. A handful of the speeders have won themselves a set of matching bracelets, and have ended up behind bars. Unfortunately for the owner of the Veyeron being loaded onto the back of a flat bed tow truck, he won’t be seeing his prized Bugatti anytime in the near future.
Check out the video of BMX rider and Monster Energy representative Rick Thorne sharing his take on what went down.
We have seen shoemakers come up with clever ways to link their brands and motor sport. But never has there been a shoe that celebrates the outlawed driving style of the Gumball 3000 road rally. This "unofficial" race gives members of the more money than brains club the opportunity to cross the U.S. at ridiculous speeds in expensive machines. In celebration of PUMA’s partnership with the outlaw rebels who run the Gumball Rally, participants can gain even further street cred by rocking a pair of these stylish black Gumball 3000 inspired kicks.
Imagine an endurance race that lasts for over a week and covers more than 3000 miles. In the spirit of the original Cannonball Run and more recent Gumball Rally America’s largest rubber donut distributor will be sponsoring the 2009 Tire Rack One Lap of America. When it all begins today, May 1st, Derek Whitis’ Freedom Autosport team with veteran Grand Am Rolex driver Tom Long behind the wheel, will be competing in a heavily modified Nissan R35 GT-R.
The Japanese supercar has been tuned by Tym Switzer’s Ohio-based tuning house, Switzer Performance, to deliver more than 700 horsepower and 600 lb-ft of torque. The power comes thanks to Switzer’s P800 performance package, the next step up from their P700 power package. The race begins at the Tire Rack factory in South Bend, Indiana and wraps up 8 days and 3200 mile later, back where it all began.
This year’s Gumball 3000 starts in San Francisco and ends in Beijing in time to watch some the Summer Olympic Games. For those of you who don’t know the Gumball is a rally/tour where participants take their performance cars on 3000 mile run on public road, while the drivers “party” along the way. Although it looks like an excuse for the ultra-rich to flaunt their supercars (and it mostly is,) it also gives the rest of us a chance to see some great cars actually clock some real miles. Enjoy this latest clip from the San Diego part of the run that includes some great supercars and two of the three Dahm triplets from Playboy.
The Gumball 3000 is the in its tenth year. It was started in the spirit of the “Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash”, better know as the “Cannonball Run”. The four actual Cannonball Runs in the 70s inspired the two movies of the same name in the 80s. Brock Yates, the founder of the Cannonball Run races and writer of the original movie, lists the movie “The Gumball Rally” as one of the bastard children of his race. It’s likely that this is where the Gumball 3000’s name comes from.
Do yourself a favor and track down a copy of “The Gumball Rally”. It features some great classics including an original Shelby Cobra and Ferrari Daytona. The movie is a must-see for any car nut, plus it features a pre-crazy Gary Busey.
