Cars and Stars: Gumball 3000 Wraps Up in New York

By Catherine Kent on May 7th, 2010

• Tweet
• Link to StumbleUpon
• 1 Comment

The 12th annual Gumball 3000 rally rolls into New York City tonight, along with around 120 drool-worthy automobiles driven by an international roster of the rich and famous. The Gumball 3000 is more of a road-trip than a race: there’s no prize for coming first, but there are lavish parties at every pit stop. This year’s participants include actor Michael Madsen, skateboarder Tony Hawk, rappers Eve and Xzibit, Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs, supermodel Jodie Kidd and none other than the Hoff Himself, along with the event’s organizer, Maximillion Cooper, and an assortment of Middle Eastern princes and Russian billionaires.

Each participant paid $45,000 for the chance to drive their super-exotic, high-performance or otherwise unique car across two continents (Tony Hawk, for example, is driving the A-Team van). This year’s Gumball had a European and a North American leg. Stars and their supercars left from London and hit up Copenhagen and Stockholm, before loading the whole kit and caboodle up onto luxury jets and flying across the ocean to Bangor, Maine. From there, the route went through Boston, Quebec City and Toronto before dipping back down into the U.S. for the home stretch to NYC.

There have been the usual hiccups and holdups along the way, including Quebec City officials canceling a planned car parade due to security concerns. Michael Madsen had to quit the European leg of the rally after his driver was stopped for speeding in Belgium, and yesterday another team had their car impounded by Ontario Provincial Police for being stopped twice for speeding in the same stretch of highway. Although rally participants are officially expected to abide by the rules of the public roads they’re driving on, do you really think 120 wealthy playboys (and girls) in flashy cars will remember this once they’re on the road?
If you’re into celebrity sightings or luxury cars, you can see them crossing the finish line tonight in Times Square between 42nd and 43rd Streets.

All photos from the official Gumball 3000 website.