Gumball 3000

The Gumball 3000 is an annual 3000-mi (5000 km) international car rally that takes place on public roads.

In 1933 motorcycle racer "Cannonball" Baker crossed the United States coast-to-coast in approximately 54 hours. In the 1970s Car and Driver founder and editor Brock Yates started the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash in his honor. The second race was won by Yates and Dan Gurney, former Formula One and Le Mans driver, in a Ferrari Daytona. They needed about 35 hours from New York to L.A. These events inspired the 1976 movies The Gumball Rally and Cannonball, as well as sequels such as Cannonball Run, Cannonball Run II, etc. The "Cannonball" race was finally canceled in 1979 due to a combination of media attention and pressure from political and police organizations who were concerned about road safety.

Drawing inspiration from the 1970s race, the aforementioned movies as well as the movie Smokey and the Bandit, Maximillion Cooper revived the spirit of the old races in the summer of 1999 by combining the racing element with nightly parties and layovers at luxury hotels. The "Gumball 3000" has since captured public attention through celebrity participation and coverage on everything from CNN, MTV and the BBC to Esquire, FHM, and a George Gurley from Vanity Fair, who rode with 2003 Winner Alexander Roy through Morocco on the 2004 Rally.

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