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The Gumball 3000 is the modern descendant of the Cannonball Run road race of the 1970's only now it has gone upscale. Where as the 1970's Cannonball Run was open to anyone who had the balls to race from NYC to LA risking tickets or even prison the modern Gumball 3000 costs $120,000 to enter and the 3000 mile race now stretches across both North America and Asia with it's finishing leg in North Korea.
The race is supposedly extremely popular with Hollywood celebrates, dot com millionaires, and Arab Sheiks.
The race is supposedly extremely popular with Hollywood celebrates, dot com millionaires, and Arab Sheiks.
Going the extravagant mile
By Sharon A. Heilbrunn
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 11, 2008
DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – It's a rally for the ritzy. And the rich.
The Gumball 3000 arrived in San Diego yesterday, giving bystanders a glimpse of the good life, as Jaguars, Porsches, Lamborghinis and Corvettes in every color made their way to the swanky Ivy Hotel downtown.
Behind the wheel? Celebrities, athletes, supermodels and billionaires.
The Gumball is alluring to anyone with money to burn and a thirst for adventure. Drivers pay about $120,000 to participate in the car rally, which spans 3,000 miles and two continents in eight days. The plan is simple: drive by day, party by night.
This year's course takes 120 cars – some that cost as much as a house – from San Francisco to Los Angeles, then San Diego before hitting Las Vegas, where the Gumballers load their cars into cargo planes and fly to North Korea for the last leg of the race. The route ends at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
At the Ivy Hotel yesterday, about 200 people craned their necks to see the cars as they rolled in around 5 p.m. Drivers honked and waved to a cheering crowd at Bare Back Grill as they drove down E Street.
Two blond Playboy playmates exited a silver Mercedes in front of the Ivy, clad in black jumpsuits. Model Tyson Beckford climbed out of a Range Rover. One Lamborghini was towed in on a flatbed. It broke down in Carlsbad. Not to worry. Another car is coming, driver Amro Kayal said. Kayal, a real estate developer from Saudi Arabia, got lost a few times. But that's part of the fun, he said.
The Gumball 3000 is the creation of Maximillion Cooper, 36, an Englishman with a law degree and Armani modeling credentials. Cooper launched the cult car rally 10 years ago when he invited 55 of his eccentric friends to participate in a six-day, 3,000-mile adventure around Europe.
Over the years, the rally grew, adding more celebrities, sheiks, socialites and sponsors to its roster and upping the ante each time. It came to America in 2002 when drivers traveled from New York City to Los Angeles. Touted as a rally and not a race, the only prize is the party each night.
The rally teases those more fortunate to dance with danger. Its history includes crashes, arrests and questionable behavior. Testosterone fuels the cars as much as gas, and it's rumored that speeds can reach upward of 150 mph, although Cooper stresses that drivers adhere to safety precautions and laws at all times.
The event hit a low point last year, when a Gumballer hit an elderly driver and his wife in Macedonia, killing the man. His wife later died from injuries sustained in the crash. Cooper canceled the remainder of the rally.
The cause of the accident is iffy, at best. The Gumball 3000 Web site blames poor weather and bad road conditions. Local authorities said the Gumballers were driving at risky speeds – about 100 mph.
“It was an incredibly sad incident,” Cooper said. “When it happened, we had quite a stringent safety procedure in place.”
But Gumballers brag about their speeds. Most had been pulled over at least once yesterday; others, nearly half a dozen times.
“The first leg, someone was getting picked off every 10 minutes,” said Gumballer John Esbensen. “From San Francisco, most guys cruised at 100. But a lot of guys pushed way harder than that.”
By Sharon A. Heilbrunn
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 11, 2008
DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – It's a rally for the ritzy. And the rich.
The Gumball 3000 arrived in San Diego yesterday, giving bystanders a glimpse of the good life, as Jaguars, Porsches, Lamborghinis and Corvettes in every color made their way to the swanky Ivy Hotel downtown.
Behind the wheel? Celebrities, athletes, supermodels and billionaires.
The Gumball is alluring to anyone with money to burn and a thirst for adventure. Drivers pay about $120,000 to participate in the car rally, which spans 3,000 miles and two continents in eight days. The plan is simple: drive by day, party by night.
This year's course takes 120 cars – some that cost as much as a house – from San Francisco to Los Angeles, then San Diego before hitting Las Vegas, where the Gumballers load their cars into cargo planes and fly to North Korea for the last leg of the race. The route ends at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
At the Ivy Hotel yesterday, about 200 people craned their necks to see the cars as they rolled in around 5 p.m. Drivers honked and waved to a cheering crowd at Bare Back Grill as they drove down E Street.
Two blond Playboy playmates exited a silver Mercedes in front of the Ivy, clad in black jumpsuits. Model Tyson Beckford climbed out of a Range Rover. One Lamborghini was towed in on a flatbed. It broke down in Carlsbad. Not to worry. Another car is coming, driver Amro Kayal said. Kayal, a real estate developer from Saudi Arabia, got lost a few times. But that's part of the fun, he said.
The Gumball 3000 is the creation of Maximillion Cooper, 36, an Englishman with a law degree and Armani modeling credentials. Cooper launched the cult car rally 10 years ago when he invited 55 of his eccentric friends to participate in a six-day, 3,000-mile adventure around Europe.
Over the years, the rally grew, adding more celebrities, sheiks, socialites and sponsors to its roster and upping the ante each time. It came to America in 2002 when drivers traveled from New York City to Los Angeles. Touted as a rally and not a race, the only prize is the party each night.
The rally teases those more fortunate to dance with danger. Its history includes crashes, arrests and questionable behavior. Testosterone fuels the cars as much as gas, and it's rumored that speeds can reach upward of 150 mph, although Cooper stresses that drivers adhere to safety precautions and laws at all times.
The event hit a low point last year, when a Gumballer hit an elderly driver and his wife in Macedonia, killing the man. His wife later died from injuries sustained in the crash. Cooper canceled the remainder of the rally.
The cause of the accident is iffy, at best. The Gumball 3000 Web site blames poor weather and bad road conditions. Local authorities said the Gumballers were driving at risky speeds – about 100 mph.
“It was an incredibly sad incident,” Cooper said. “When it happened, we had quite a stringent safety procedure in place.”
But Gumballers brag about their speeds. Most had been pulled over at least once yesterday; others, nearly half a dozen times.
“The first leg, someone was getting picked off every 10 minutes,” said Gumballer John Esbensen. “From San Francisco, most guys cruised at 100. But a lot of guys pushed way harder than that.”
