Gumball 3000 Kicks Off in NYC
The infamous cross-country hoonfest known as the Gumball 3000 begins today from the glorious City of New York.
Attracting a host of C+/B List celebrities and some of the most outlandish paintjobs you’ll ever see on supercars, the Gumball is basically the ultimate celebration of four-wheeled flamboyance and stage for shenanigans unleashed on America’s unsuspecting highways.
I know… it sounds amazing.
So why doesn’t RoadRoving have a car in the grid?
Well, even if I could convince one of my buddies to lend me a sports car I’d still be a few bucks short of the entry fee- a cool £25,000 (just shy of 40 g’s). And that’s before you pay for the t-shirt.
The Gumball crew basically hauls ass from “sea to shining sea” (see map below) throwing wild parties at each overnight point and filming themselves ripping donuts every time they have to stop for a refuel.
The rally was never popular with police, but the reputation of the event soured significantly a few years ago when a couple rich thrill-seekers collided with civilians in oncoming traffic. The ralliers walked away unscathed, but the bystanders were killed instantly.
As a result, the Gumball 3000 now bills itself as “ambassadors of road safety” and will, apparently, be playing by the road rules and behaving themselves for the duration of the trip.
How a flotilla of attention-craving maniacs driving high powered sports cars is ever going to accomplish such a thing over a 3,000 mile journey is a mystery to me, but who knows. Maybe they’re just driving Lamborghinis for the great gas mileage.
Whatever their true intentions, we can be sure there will be a steady stream of awesome images snapped between NY and LA. The Gumball has its own host of Instagram, Flickr, and every other type of feed, but you might want to watch the accounts of your favorite Gumball celebrity for first-person action.
Here’s the list. If you don’t recognize somebody, don’t feel guilty. They probably don’t know you either.
- Maximillion Cooper (Event founder)
- Eve
- Estevan Oriol
- Bun B
- Idris Elba
- David Hasselhoff
- Johan ‘Yo’ Esbensen
- Mike Malbon
- DJ Muggs
- Tony Hawk
- James Bond
- Buttsy
- Dennis Rodman
- Caprice
- Bam Margera
- Mike Vallely
- Ryan Dunn
- Duane Peters
- Travis Barker
- Xzibit
- Bucky Lasek
- Mario
- The Dudesons
- Dirty Sanchez
- Daryl Hannah
- Jon Olsson
- Shane Lynch
- David Guetta
- Tamer Hassan
- Danny Dyer
- Goldie
- Jodie Kidd
- Rob Dyrdek
- Travis Pastrana
- Carey Hart
- Ndamukong Suh
- Mike “Rooftop” Escamilla
The car list isn’t published quite as conveniently, but I’ve seen Lamborghini Gallardos, at least one Aventador, Camaro, M3, SLS, various Ferraris, a few of the perennial favorite statement-maker- the Bugatti Veyron.
This particularly awesome image features a TWR-modified Jaguar XJ220 being unloaded from a jet, I can’t guarantee it’s from this year but I’ll keep our hopes up. If so, this would probably be the coolest vehicle of the event.
Otherwise, check out this wide-angle from Times Square last night, and a few subsequent images of the 2012 Gumball 3000 lineup.
Across The Finish Line (ML Across America Stage 10)
The last leg of the ride, New York to Boston, was a well-worn path I had driven many times living in the Northeast. Compared to the nation-spanning conquest we had just completed, it felt like a ride up the block.
I took the wheel with my knees as I wolfed a breakfast sandwich from one hand and sipped lava-hot coffee from the other after a Dunkin’ Donuts stop I demanded. I delegated horn-honking and finger-giving to Birdie who was reading me the GPS’s instructions from the passenger seat.
We stopped on the Massachusetts South Shore to catch up with my friend Matt and see his new racecar; a MINI Cooper S. 
Try as I might to convince him the drive wheels were in the wrong place he seemed happy with it. I asked him how awesome a light bar would look on Birdie’s ML and he shrugged as she rolled her eyes. Maybe they’ll be convinced when I get that Jurassic Park paintscheme on there…
The last stop before our final destination was Mike’s Pastry- an exceptional canoli purveyor and Boston institution. Bringing home a take from Mike’s for my family would win me some points right off the bat.
Just over an hour later we were pulling into my parent’s lawn. I had been dreaming of ripping a big, ignorant donut to announce my arrival but I aborted when I realized dad had just put down grass seed. I’d need to stay in his good graces a little longer if I expected him to let me use his tools.
A couple days of showing Jess around the North Shore and she was on a plane back to LA. I was left with a very tired SUV that was clamoring for a detailing and an oil change.
Thus concluded the longest and somehow most incident-free land expedition I’d accomplished yet. I don’t care if it was build in ‘Bama or Bremen, those boys at Benz know what they’re doing. Forget selling this rig, I’m adding it to the fleet!
The End • ML Across America
Mountain Mammas, Police Occupy West Virginia (ML Across America Stage 9)
In stark contrast to the lively beat of Nashville and whimsical sleaze of New Orleans, we rolled through Charleston, West Virginia thinking there must have been more police than people in residence.
My friend Molly works at an animal ER in town, and met up with us around midnight to show us a few bars. I didn’t expect much on a Sunday night, but the local law enforcement certainly did. As we made our way back to the cars after last call we must have passed twenty Interceptors holding down Capitol Street containing what could only have been an invisible riot.
Molly was kind enough to put us up on an air mattress (a substantial improvement over the previous night’s accommodation) and we powered on to NYC the next day.
Talk about a sea change- it doesn’t get much more American than waking up in West Virginia and wrapping up in a Jersey City highrise overlooking New York’s skyline.
Birdie’s friend Brad brought us over the river (actually under it, on a subterranean commuter train) and to a kickass place in the East Village simply called “Frank Restaurant.”
The $4 ATM charge was well worth the experience of great food, stylish atmosphere and a surprisingly impressive wine list.
Actually, I shouldn’t have been surprised because rich hipsters love places like this.
Back at Brad’s apartment the nighttime view from the living room was downright inspiring. In the garage the car once again got to rub shoulders (er, fenders) with M3’s and AMG Merc’s… all of which were undoubtedly jealous of our humble ML’s epic expedition.
Even though we still had a couple hundred miles ahead of us, seeing the Atlantic meant we pretty well had this trip in the bag. And despite a few trying moments on those empty highways, we had had smooth sailing from one ocean to another.
