|
Post by Sean on May 1, 2009 18:55:21 GMT -5
I just got this email from Robb Rill from Darkcyd Racing.
Darkcyd Racing Gumball 3000 Redux
La -Miami
Well things seem to come full circle in life. The main adventure that started it all in 2004 (and initially was a once in a lifetime event-now repeated 6 times), The Gumball 3000 has reared its head again with an invitation that was hard to refuse. Although, after the last Bullrun, the team has engaged in some transcontinental private rallies, which are more low key, and well …private, and most recently the Patagonia Dakar Rally recon trip for my anticipated entry in 2011, a couple months ago that scoured a full range of terrain in Argentina and Chile for the most daring adventure seeker, there was no more plans to do any more U.S. based events. Because of the popularity and notoriety of these events, I did not plan to do anything because of potential license and liability issues, and the truth is; blasting across the country in a supercar in this environment does not always send such a welcoming message. But alas this last offer was too tempting to pass up, and I was enticed to join in the chaos, despite my reservations. The Gumball 3000 rally which is perhaps more known for the historic celebrity attendance (Which I couldn’t care less about, and often find more amusing then anything else), initially was considered the most hardcore of cannonball events but after some accidents over the years has mellowed with age a tinge. I don’t think we will have carte blanche to Blast through any states with the permission of any governor, similar to what we did in Morocco as a guest of the king in 2004. Instead it will be slightly more mellow and instead of doing a 5 car team, we will start out this year solo in just the Darkcyd Gallardo with the queen and support meeting Alex Fima and I in New Orleans to finish the rally in the Darkcyd Murci, and the now infamous Darkcyd Bentley (allegedly the most powerful Bentley in the US with almost 700 HP and 915 ft/ pounds of torque courtesy of Jason Kable and Fabspeed) as support. . The Murci is unfortunately currently being repaired after some ignition issues at Sebring raceway a couple weeks ago, so it was not practical to get it shipped to LA in time for the start. I will also be shifting roles primarily to that as a Navigator in order to minimize any potential issues with unfriendly and non receptive law enforcement as we traverse this great country of ours, and Alex Fima through some mild coercion will be the main driver to New Orleans, and then the queen and crew will meet up with us and take us down to Miami to finish at the Gansavort hotel where a blowout “White Party” Miami Vice Style in South Beach will wrap things up on Friday the 8th of May..
This year, stops unlike previous rallies are actually known to me, and I actually have a list of hotels we will be arriving at, so please stop by if any of these are near you and you want to witness the chaos first hand. It’s not every day you get to witness a rolling rock and roll exotic car carnival. The rally will start with group performances from such acts as the now world famous Cuban Brothers and all the cars will be on display before the starting flag drops Saturday May 2nd at 1PM at the Santa Monica pier. We will then head to The Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas where a concert will be performed by The Cult and we spend the night. Then its off to great places like the Grand Canyon, Sante Fe, New Mexico, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Orlando, then Miami. I have not determined yet as I am writing this right now on the plane in route to LA if I will do daily write-ups as I have done in the past, but may determine it at the last minute based on feedback. Despite the fact that I don’t worry about grammar and spelling, it’s quite a lot of work and pretty tiring to try and get a write up done at 3am when all you really want to do is sleep or enjoy the activities. With that said, I know many friends and family really enjoy the adventure from the safety of their homes or offices, so I’m going to play it by ear, and maybe decide based on the feedback I get. Mainly I hope to see friends stop by as we rally across the country and say hello, which is why below you will find a list of hotels we will be staying at with dates.
Cheers,
Robb
P.S. Just got to hotel room after registration and it is mild chaos. Not quite as bad as in 04 but funny enough all the same characters. some good faces from previous rallies, and some ones that just make you laugh. David Hasselhoff is here, and its funny how he still enjoys the limelight. Also the guy from the UAE that spent $3MM on the number plate 1. Havn't met him yet but some funny characters for sure.
Gumball 3000 Event Plan - May 1st – 8th 2009
1st of May Los Angeles CA, Viceroy Hotel
2nd of May Las Vegas NV, Hard Rock Hotel
3rd of May Sedone AZ, Enchantment Resort
4th of May Santa Fee NM, Eldorado Hotel
5th of May Dallas TX, W – Hotel
6th of May New Orleans LA, Royal Sonesta Hotel
7th of May Orlando FL, Ritz Carlton Hotel
8th of May Miami Beach FL, Gansevoort Hotel
|
|
|
Post by ScrapinSTi on May 1, 2009 19:37:11 GMT -5
Please tell me that they are bullshitting, and that they arent posting the ROUTE FOR THE GUMBALL all over the internet? Please tell me its really like Miami to NY and this is some sick diversion....
|
|
|
Post by skimobile on May 1, 2009 19:53:02 GMT -5
What car is Paris Hilton and Britney Spears driving?
..kidding...
|
|
|
Post by Sean on May 2, 2009 11:06:00 GMT -5
Noah they are trying to get away from the stupid people and making it known. They are posting the route and working with every state that they pass through. They are not staying "underground" any more. I love it. I think it's a great thing.
Day 1 pre-launch
Alright you guys win-I got too many emails asking me to please do the write ups, and since I know some of you really appreciate the effort-I'm going to continue. The rules are this though. The spelling and grammar will be terrible as I am really time pressed on these events, and sometimes will be written at 3Am when I rather be sleeping, or early in the morning when I need to prepare for the next stage. I don't enough have time usually to read it over even once myself, so if it sounds like its written by a 6th grader rather than an educated MBA, this is why. So please go easy on me. So with the economy what it is, the trend of the rally's heading down in general, and the fact that I had been part of the rally crowd for years now but not specifically the Gumball crowd since 04, I expected this to be about 25 cars, and Alex Fima my codriver and I to maybe know a couple people. Wrong! While it is not as insane as Europe in 04 which had about 180 cars, and total chaos, I would say there is about 75 on the grid, and it seems like a class reunion. Familiar faces kept coming up to us and saying hello which obviously makes the event more enjoyable. There are some really nice cars on the grid and the Darkcyd Gallardo is pretty plain vanilla compared to the Buggatti's, Several SLR's and several favorites like the new ZR1, and some really custom and wild paint jobs and some old school Hoopties as we call them which are redonw classic muscle cars with large funny rims on them that make them ride like 2 feet in the air. . Lots of friends from previous rallies showed up to say hello and I was happy to see our kid photographer Jason Thorgenson, hereto cover the event , Rob Ferretti who is handling several cars that are entered that he rented to the Euro crowd coming over such as some Murci's, a Bentley etc, couple 430's etc, some of the old characters from Bull Run such as Mr Wu, and his girlfriend Cindy , with his brother Alan who I think is a pretty cool guy, the infamous Rawlings whom I almost got in a fist fight on the last Bull run after he made the world record attempt, and had a very happy surprise visit from Clause Ettensberger the founder of CEC wheels and performance tunnning who showed up to see us. We ended up having dinner with them and Ferreti and their friends at the hotel here whic was great because this was still the epicenter for the Gumball crowd, who wouldn't even leave for the peir to see the Cuban briothers perform. .Clausse's wife joined us where we actually got to speak for the first time extensively, and boy is she a firecracker and certainly doesn't take any crap from Clausse-lol. I actually started some controversy as he got excited about all the action, and he may join us for the first leg to Vegas today. well see. The dinner we had with Clause and Ferreti and their friends was great here at the Vices, and it was funny because I had to help get Rob wrist bands for the afterparty even though he was helping out with the vent by providing so many cars. These Gumball guys really seem to take this too seriously, although admittedly this seemed to be the hot ticket in LA last night as there were hordes of girls trying to get in, which ironically didn't seem to be too much a problem. The party at the Vices hotel was actually surprisingly good, and I would estimate had about 500 people in attendance although it was hard for me to stay past 12:30AM. The usual "stars" were around-and since I'm not fan of the jackass crown, was glad not to mingle with them but rather hang out with fellow ralliers from previous events that were there to see us off. Alex chatted a bit with Tony Hawk who was actually on the 04 rally with me and is a pretty down to earth guy. There were others there like Rodman from Basketball crossdressing fame, and he is just an ass with his attitude and they were quite loud at dinner. I felt bad when people like Annabell Frankel from Bull Run arrest fame came up to say hello and she looked so different to me I asked her name. I was quite embarrassed after, as the girl I was talking too didn't look like the Annabell I remembered. Its a good thing Annabell, nothing to worry about. Danyell, Alex's wife was with us also enjoying the action, and appears to be planning to join the queen in Gainesville to drive up with her in the Darkcyd Bentley on Tuesday. This would be great if it happens and Adrian and Aaron can freely bring up The Darkcyd Murci the next day to meet up with us in New Orleans. The drivers meeting is in a couple hours to tell us all the things we should not do, and registration yesterday was like getting through a bail bonding. they are taking the excess speed seriously, and with all the documents we had to sign, are not going to allow some of the excessive craziness, which I think is a good thing. Not everybody has the same self control, and there historically have been so pretty stupid people on these things which just screws it up for everyone. We start off at Santa Monica pier at 1PM, and our first checkpoint I am told is some drifting exhibition, and then its straight to Hard Rock in Vegas to watch the cult perform, who also are on the rally with us at least for one leg. That's all for now Cheers, Robb
|
|
|
Post by funkystickman on May 2, 2009 11:58:42 GMT -5
I wonder what time they'll be getting into town... I live about an hour outside of New Orleans, it would be killer to check that out!! Anybody coming out this way for it, let me know...
The Royal Sonesta Hotel is on Bourbon Street, about 5 blocks from the river. If you're planning on dropping in, you'd better park somewhere else and walk... and in New Orleans, that doesn't mean park on the street. Besides, there's hardly any free parking in the Quarter... what I usually do is park on the Westbank and take the ferry across the river, but I don't think the ferry runs all night, so I suppose you'd have to find something nearby.
There's parking by the Riverwalk, it's about a 3/4 mile walk to the hotel from there. It's on the corner of Bourbon and Bienville.
|
|
|
Post by Team Avanti on May 3, 2009 20:52:48 GMT -5
wow intresting
|
|
|
Post by Sean on May 3, 2009 22:43:56 GMT -5
The Start:
So while waiting for breakfast at the Viceroy, things were a little more subdued vs the previous night. Many were still not awake after all nighters, and some couldn't find therir way back. Since I was not in either group, Ihad already packed the Darkcyd Gallardo , but the finishinhg Darkcyd Racing decals on it after Gumball did its thing, and was bascially waiting for Alex to show up after he spent the nioght at another hotel with Danyell, get to the drivers meeting and go. As people slowly refilled the halls, what reamined the same was the audatious site of the exotics. The Bugatti's and several of the other cars such as xj220 jag, a SSC Aero, and a Murcielago Spyder wrapped in what looks just like carbon fiber in a beautiful matte black were parked on display the front of the hotel. Combine that with about 75 other Super cars and it was a heck of a site. By the time the drivers meeting rolled around we already had our car at the Santa Monica pier which was to remain on display for the visitors until we launched. The drivers meeting held by Maximillian Cooper was similar to all years accept the insistance that things have changed an d any aggressive driving would get you thrown out. They had the Mayor of Sante Monica there along with the chief of police to confirm this. People seemed receptive and it appeared any craziness might be contained. At least as far as driving was concerned. Bill Wu and his team dressed as Swine Flu response team with these White Full body Clean suits, and started spraying the crowd with some sort of disinfectant. He gets an A for effort, and you couldn't get me to do that if you paid me. So we then all went to the pair where all of the cars were on display for the launch. It was an impressive sight with probably a thousand or so people there to watch the cards and Mayhem. The cars parked in a corral, and all had to leave in single file for a police escort to the freeway to get us out of town. That's when experience counts so Alex and I got in the car I started it up and acting like we were instructed by someone, we drove to the front of the entrance where the cars were to launch, maybe saving us an hour of time. There were so many people on either side of the car when we got our route card, I was really concerned about hitting someone. I did not ofcourse, we launched, and without the police escort, were on the 405 in no time heading for Irvine. Our destination was a drifting competition, where our cars were supposed to be on display again although I did not know that and so when we arrived, we thought it wise to just bail and head straight for Vegas-which we did. Getting ahead of everyone else avoids alerting the police, and makes life much easier on us. Alex trying to make things better for us updated our built in police scanner, which for whatever reason seemed to get every channel we needed except for the hwy patrol model we needed. So between that not working and he using a different detector that seemed to go off at bizarre times, we were somewhat flying blind. Anyway by the time we got to Vegas after one brief fuel stop, nobody else seemed to be at the Hard Rock hotel but us. so we checked in and then ran to try and get a better scanner. By the time we got back an hour later people were jusrt arriving, and since there was a couple hundred of them we were so glad we beat all of them to check in. this saved us a lot of waiting around, and gave us time to get cleaned up for the Vip dinner section which allowed us to watch the Cult, a rock group I had not seen since college days , who also were part of the rally, do their thing. These guys were getting old, and although it was not a terrible performance, it was clear to me they were milking their past fame for all its was worth. They played some old favorites like she sells Santuary, and Love removal machine, and then before you know it, they were done. There was some VIP blah blah after party at a new nightclub at the Hard Rock called Body English, and although I did do a quik lap to make a quick appearance, was really in no mood for that scene. So here I am writing this now, and anxious for bed. Tommorow we head for Sedonna where we expect to meet fellow Darkcyd member Bart the Bomber, and enjoy the eclectic town and Red Rock scenery Cheers, Robb
|
|
4signs
Junior Member
Posts: 18
|
Post by 4signs on May 10, 2009 14:03:16 GMT -5
Sean anymore emails? I love these stories
|
|
|
Post by Sean on May 12, 2009 9:08:16 GMT -5
So I have a little catch up to do since we had a detour on our route. We launched from the Hard Rock hotel after a really long night especially for Alex who seemed to have trouble finding his way and almost ended up in my bed. We had trouble with the scanner and mistakenly started to follow Dennis Rodman and Richard Rawlings to the Hoover Dam checkpoint, only to discover they didn't know where they were going , and it made more sense to find our own way. I had been their before and it wasn't hard and the rule of these rallies is always rely on yourself as most people have no clus where they are going or what they are doing. We saw one of the Buggati's on the side of the road do to overheating problems as the Hoover Dam was like moving in La traffic. Slow and long. We made out quickly and although the plan was to go to Sedona from Hoover, we decided to instead head toi Scottsdale to meet fellow Darkcycd member Bart the Bomber at his palatial resort. We got to admire his two car lifts that hold a spectacular collection of cars, including a Gallardo Spyder, a cl 63 in Matte white , a 430 Spyder, and a beautiful R8. So after hooking up with him and his daughter Alex and a real meal at a restaurant called Oceans Prime in Scottsdale, it made more sense to stay there and then race up to Sedona in the morning to meet up with the rest of the group when they launched for the Grand Canyon. Bart has the incredible driving simulator at his house, and it seems our lives revolve around cars even when we are not in them. SO we crashed our simulated cars on the Road Atlanta race course, which I guess was better than crashing the Gallardo in real life. Got up about 5:30 this morning and left after quick showers straight for Sedona to meet up with the other 60 or so cars left. It keeps dwindling down as it always does with people like David Hasselhof doing silly thing like getting alcohol poisoning after drinking like a fish. We got to the Enchanted resort just when the cars were launching, and grabbed our card, and took off on some windy roads to the grand Canyon. On our way we almost hit one of the other Gumballers who is some kind of Irishj Drift champion , as he found a corner he liked and decided to make runs back and forth drifting his Skyline. We then took a small detour trying to avoid the highway, and got caught in road construction. Alex not wanting to wait, kinda got ahead of the line , and as the line was being led by a highway safety car, he decided to pass just before the end which the guy did not appreciate to much. He actually tried to crash into us, we avoided him by inches, then punched it past the other Dot guy that walked out towards the car to stop us. I was convinced they would radio ahead to someone but I guess they figured such attempt were futile, since we were quickly long gone. We got to the south Rim entrance of the park, did out photo op thing, and after about 15 minutes decided to beat most of the guys out primarily because we didn't want problems with cops, which we learned later was a very wise move. One of the rangers told us about an alternate route that was much more scenic and through a Indian Reservation, and this prved to be key for avoiding issues. The roads were long, empty, and sweeping with beautiful vistas. With alex driving, we got mildly aggressive, but not to bad, and as soon as we slowed it down, ironically got pulled over by a cop going the opposite direction. He clocked us at like 65, which we thought was pretty nice compared to a few minutes just prior, and thinking he was going to actually be a tough one, he decided to give Alex a warning and let us go. We asked if he had seen any other similar cars and he said no making us wonder if we were really ahead of the rest of the pack. So I got in the drivers slot, and we decided to stay on this alternte route all the way till we had no choice but to get on I 40 East. By the time we did , we had made such spectacular time, we felt good about not running with the pack. When we arrived at the hotel in Sante Fe, we were lead to the town square where there were a maybe a thousand fans waiting our arrival, and we learned we were abput the 8th car to show up. Apparently 9 cars got impounded and people arrested, including the Buggastii we saw earlier with overheating problems. We were a little surprised, as we had not done any really excessive speeds, (ok occasionally a little), and so we waiting to see everyone arrive, almost two hours later than us in some cases. We caluculated we had driven almost 12 hours today, and covered about 750 miles including the stint we did from Scottsdale. Its been a long one and tomorrow will be no different. All I know about tomorrow is we launch about 9-9:30 and our first stop is the Caddilac Ranch in Armidillo Texas. That's all for Now Cheers, Robb
|
|
|
Post by Sean on May 12, 2009 9:08:49 GMT -5
OK, as I write this there are still some Gumballers still coming into the hotel. Been a hectic day but a good one for us. After reasliazing how brutal the cops were going to be today after what happened yesterday, we launched about 20 minutes ahead of the rest of the group. We knew I40 was full of cops waiting for us so we had mapped out a route that only required beng on the I40 for maybe 30 minutes, then we took an alternate two lane road that run wouth east and dropped us right into Armirilllo Texas. the road we took wound over cliffs and was completley empty. we were the only car for 100 miles pretty much and the driving was spectacular. Windy, and hilly, with alex driving this portion I simply sat back and enjoyed the view. Once we dropped into Texas, we stopped by the Cadillac Ranch which honestly was a little disappointing. Its the Texas version of Stonehenge, but with old Cadillac cars mounted vertical into the dirt. We reached that destination witrh only a few cars ahead of us, and realizes our decision were good onces up to that point.The new route card then said to head 20 minuutes east to have a Steak at the Largest Steak house in Texas. We rolled in to see about 3 other cars there. A Black Range Rover, and a Black 430, and a Yellow Murci, with god awful rims and a licence plate that said Fantasy. Anyways we met the owners of the the 430 and Rover, and like us they liked to roll separate from the pack, and also hasd planned the same alternate route we did for the next portion so we decided to go together. After about 5 minutes though it was decided there pace was a little slow for our taste, and we charged ahead without them but we had there mobile numbers so we could text them any police status. In a way, we were the bait car for them but since we would have run ahead anyway, it didn't matter. So with me driving we were clipping along at a nice only mildly aggressive pace for at least an hour before we got a text from Drew in the rover saying Micheal in the 430 got pulled over by a cop Looking for a Black Lambo. We then slowed the pace a bit, and were honestly surprised because we really were not going that fast. As soon as we slow down, we see a Sherriff going the other way see us , and turn around to nab us even thought we clearly were not speeding. So being proactive , I decide to pull over before he even hits his lights, and he seems stunned, not sure what to do. He then pulls alongside, get out of his car, and then says the sherriff in the previous county is looking for us. I say he must be mistaken, there are at least 5 Lamborghinis in this rally we are a part of, and must be someone else. He then calls the sheriff on his mobile, looks at us, and says have a nice day. We then text Drew back what happenned to warn them about the other cop, and he then informs us that the second Black Gallardo just passed them and then got pulled over by 3 cops, and getting quite the hard time. We were never sure which car they were looking for, but continued on sionce we had almost 650 miles to ill for the day , and had no time to ponder whi was looking for who. The whole day we had a great pace, with no other issues, and ended up at the hotel in about 6th place which was at least 30 minutes ahead of the next car, with most cars not arriving till several hours later. The w hotel in Dallas ids pretty spectacular and I went to get a message, while we waiting for Dinner. We later Met Bill Wu and his girlfriend Cindy who were running in a police car having lots of fun pulling over other Gumballers.Later Drew and his girlfriend Paulina showed up telling us how mad Micheal was for getting harrassed by the cops thinking his car was a Lamborghini, so we gave him some crap abut it telling him we admired in new Lambo. Was all in good fun ofcourse. After dinner we went to the ghost bar on the roof of the hotel, where the party is still going on now. Dennis Rodman rolled in late and supposedly drunk and trying to move from the front of the Peterbuilt truck on the outside to the back while the car was going 70 mph. What an ass. Tomorrow is a long day and we head to Houston, then to New Orleans , where I get to meet up with the queen who is bringing our Murci up with the Darkcyd Bentley to swap cars out, and finish the run. Can't wait to see them and the adventures another day will bring. Cheers, Robb
|
|
|
Post by Sean on May 12, 2009 9:09:05 GMT -5
So apparently the party at Ghost bar was better then expected and many people did not come home. I being the nerd was in Bed by about 1:30. The launch was supposed to be at 8:00 with a police escort but that didn't happen and so Alex and I took off. We headed south towards Houston and quickly saw the Black Gallardo that looks just like our car. We rolled down the window and asked about yesterday when they informed us they got arrested. Did not get a chance to get details but felt pretty bad that it might have been related to something we did, just not sure. We then followed a patrol car pacing traffic and so we simply followed for several miles until Alex figured out it was really Bill wu and Company in their patrol car they bought just for the event. I then quickly passed and not two minutes later get a text from them that a sheriff is coming for me. Surprised this was the case because I was just pacing traffic, he did come up, and I did get pulled. He said he knew all about the rally and I was going 82. since this was the highway, I told him I could easily do 182, which he didn't appreciate and cut me no slack even though Honda accords were doing the same speed. I guess he just assumed we could afford it. getting a ticket just kills your mood, so Alex switched, and instead of backing off, we pushed harder, If we were going to get stopped this time, it would be justified. We quickly played with a 997 turbo and between us made spectacular time to Hennesy Motorsports in Sealy Texas. we were admittedly being aggressive but wasn't trying to win anything, and were shocked to learn we were the first Gumballers to arrive. We were greeted by vinny an old Bull run pal, and introduced to John Hennessey who briefly showed us around. The Gt2 soon showed up, and since we knew we had a long haul , we did two runs on the drag strip against our new buddies Gil and John, and we left before anyone alse arrived pretty much. Since alex was doing so well, I had him remain, which he only reluctly did because we were warned cops were everywhere. we had a Police Scanner and trying to prgram them on the fly while downloading them at hi speeds is a challenge even from the passenger seat. We noticed we got lots of frequencies and much chatter , but little about Gumballers. On the way we passed several cops who seemed to be too busy pulling over truckers and what not to be concerned with us, so we pushed on. By the time we got close to New Orleans, wehit major traffic, and could come in on the 15 or the 12. Gill stuck with the 15 and we hit the 12 which was aoubt 20 miles longer but we thought would have less traffic, and then dive south on the longest bridge in the world at 22 miles. while it was fun , we could not make up the extra mileage, and Gil beat us to the Hotel where about 10 Gumballers who skipped the checkpoint entirely were there. It was fun driving the Gallardo right into bourbon street which was blocked off for us and it was freaking people out to see us pull up in the car. We got out and I was pleased to see the Queen arrived wit the rest of the Darkcyd crew from Florida and Danyell was also there from California. The Murci is fixed and ready to run in the morning and is getting stickered up as we speak . The famous Team Ricci from Bullrun fame was also there to great us, and they were kind enough to invite us to dinner at a great Steak place called Dicky Brennans. With a crew of about 20 we all talked about past adventures, and funny stories, and they never seem to stop. Byron Jays co pilot is one of the funniest guys I've ever met, and it was great to see them all again. Next stop was a club for the rally called Ohm, which to be honest was lame so we said the usual hellos, and bailed after about 30 minutes. tommorow we head to Orlando and checkpoint is Ritz carlton, after a stop in alabama at some retired Aircrafty carrier. Adrian and Aaron not quite ready to call it a night strolled across the street for some "entertainment" at Ricks Caberet across from the Royal Sonesta where we are staying at and I am about ready to call it a night, right after i remind the queen how much I missed her. ;-) Cheers, Robb
|
|
|
Post by Sean on May 12, 2009 9:09:25 GMT -5
So we left a little late since the Darkcyd Murci and Bentley had to finish getting decaled up for the rest of the run. Didn't matter though as traffic on the bridge to get to I-10 west was almost a parking lot. All three Darkcyd cars rolling in tight formation was probably a sight to see, and we started out a little aggressive with Michael and Doc in the black 430 completing the stealth rolling convoy. Because we started out as front runners the cops were not too bad, and having my preprogrammed scanner in the Murci helped us with the close call feature that told us when someone was within 3 miles, althought we were having trouble hearing them with the digital frequencies. . We then decided to mellow out because we rolled into Florida and Tara was willing to help out by driving so we could just go at a chill pace since she prers to be mellow and there was no craziness ahead of us to give us issues with law enforcement. Well that changed a little when we had a group of Gumball fans catch up with us as we passed just before Gainesville. I knew Sav one of them from IMV fils who is a good guy, but some of his friends I guess confused this for an audition on Jackass, because there were doing all kinds of silly crap that we wanted no part of, such as racing in the "Gumball Lane" which is the shoulder just to stir things up. I guess they didn't like the fact that we wanted nothing to do with silly driving that is just going to have people call 911, so they did it themselves on us just to be juvenile. So all my cars got pulled over for nothing, the Troopers realized they were had, and not only told us not to worry, they gave us the frequencies for their radios and told us where we could drive without being excessively concerned on the way to the Orlando checkpoint. thjey loved the cars and mainly just wanted pictures. They also indicated they had the license number of the true offender and was probably going to pay him a visit at his home. We also got great pictures of us in cuffs, and Danyell texted them to Alex's friends hoping to raise a bail fund. So for all of Alex's family and friends who got the "arrest" pictures , you now know it was just a joke. We made it to Orlando to some more friends, awaiting our arrival and had a great dinner at the Ritz Carlton where we are just now finishing up. Not too many crazy stories, but its clear from the faces rally fatigue is setting in. Heading tomorrow to the newly redone track at Morroso, that is a project of a new pal Gil who we ran with to New Orleans. Actually I have a small detour to Sebring to pay for a new Z06 engine, after I blew it on the track a couple weeks ago. Big thanks to my friend Alan, who pulled some favors with GM and really helped me out.The rest of the Darkcyd crew will be going straight to Morroso though, and we will see if we can improve upon our previous lap times. Tommorow night is the grand finale "White Party" on south Beach at the Gansavort, which if is anything like the Versace party we attended a last time, should be one to remember. Lets hope they don't have a pool like last time. ;-) Until then, Robb
|
|
|
Post by Sean on May 12, 2009 9:10:16 GMT -5
Darkcyd Racing-Orlando to Miami
Quick housekeeping-I apologize for you getting the diatribe from someone on the email list that used an opportunity to attack me in order to promote his racing “street cred”. I am not a street racer, want nothing to do with such juvenile behavior, and me expressing this clearly to his friends when they chased us down on our way to Orlando displaying their childish antics that endangered others, was used as an opportunity to promote his auto racing DVD’s. I am surprised about the events that transpired and want to waste no more time about what in reality was an insignificant incident that started at a gas station over the span of about 10 minutes. I by mistake, left the group email feature turned on and this allowed the attack-it has since been rectified and I apologize for those who were offended. Enough said.
So I had a little financial housekeeping to take care of Friday morning by running down to Sebring to pay for an engine for a Z06 that was generously lent to me for a track event at Sebring raceway. So Aaron, Oscar( the owner of said Z06 )who visited me in Orlando went to settle up and pick up his car from my new good friend Alan Jay who is the Auto king in Sebring Florida. Thanks to his pull and generosity, he and his guys got me a brand new engine after a missed shift on the track caused quite catastrophic engine failure, whether is should have or not all done in the car in less then 2 weeks. So we took Alan to breakfast, shared some Gumball stories and say the car that was on display at his main dealership like a show piece. Had I not missed that shift, I would not have met Alan, and its misadventures like these that end of leading to great friendships sometimes. I think about the similar experience in Morrroco when we pulled over to Help Kalbas, a person I had never met prior, when his Enzo had an unrepairable flat late at night in the middle of nowhere. Since the we have down 2 Baja 1000’s together.
So we left Alan jay, and quickly bolted to Palm Beach Motor Speedway which was the next pit stop, and if we were not there by 3pm would not be allowed to go to the party. That was the threat at least. Ironically, even with the detour, we were informed that we were the first to arrive except for the owner Joe who is also on the rally with us. It was also funny because Alex and I had also won the stage unofficially on the same leg on Bullrun two years ago. But remember its not a race, it’s a rally and all in good fun. Joe is a great guy and allowed us full access to the track immediately since nobody was there. For those that don’t know Morroso was bought by Joe and his group which includes Gil who we ran with on the Houston to New Orleans leg, and they sank millions repaving the track and making the facility much better. The only thing I miss is removal of the back chicane which was done to accommodate the new Drag Strip. O well. After running just two laps in the Gallardo the check oil light came on and since I was I already met me engine quote for the month, pulled in for oil. Darn thing was almost 3 quarts low, and since this was Alex’s responsibility I can blame him-lol
As the rolling carnival pulled in including the Darkcyd girls who were about the seventh cars in the Bentley, Aaron and I went back out on the track, and drove hard since this is were fast driving is really done. The only issue if having people of different abilities on, and as I passed a DB9 on the straight racing to the first left hand corner, he froze and actually ran off the track. The same person, later without my help also crashed the car which was one of Rob Ferretti’s rentals, and at least money wise was considered a total. The really bad news is insurance doesn’t cover the car on the track so that was a couple hundred grand boo boo. Ouch. Gil than took Adrian, my best friend from college who also has a bad habit of crashing Porches, in his full race trim Porsche to see if he can get him to cry. Instead of fear though he came back with just a stupid grin.
We then all went to race go carts which I confused with bumper cars, as I kept bashing the leader trying to pass with no luck. Those Karts go 50 mph and slide like a rally car. Way too much fun with none of the danger. Soon enough if was time for the parade to Watsons island for the police escort to Ocean Drive where we had the most spectacular ending to a rally I have been apart of. The directions indicated we had to follow Max the founder who was taking a rather ill informed route to Miami where the cruise ships were parked. Being a local, we broke from the pack and took 95 straight down. It ended up being a good thing because not only did we avoid more traffic then they did, Max got pulled over, and many of the 70 or so cars pulled over with him , which got them the reward of also getting tickets for something along the lines of impeding traffic.
Once again, Joe from Palm beach motor Speedway and us were the first to the checkpoint but with no Gumball crew there, we had no idea where to line up for the Escort. So we wasted about an hour for the rolling caravan to find us and while we waited got all three cars lined up for some pictures with the cruise ships in the background. When we were finishing up we were informed we needed to leave now, because the escort was here,. They literally closed down the causeway for us, and the whole rally rolled into South Beach three lanes wide. The last turn onto Ocean drive was a spectacular site and was the actual finish line with thousands of people flipping out over all the cars. This is a place where displays of wealth is pretty common but Ocean drive had not seen anything like this before. We all then got out of the cars turned them off and parked right in the street closing it off too all other traffic. Apparently Julie Bangstrump had worked 6 months with the Mayor of Miami Beach to pull this off, and was an ending that was hard to beat.
Everyone celebrated and the ruckus started early but the party was just beginning since we had what was to be the Spectacular white Party with a blow out performance by the Cuban brothers, that is pretty much hands down the funniest act I have ever seen.
More on that tomorrow…
Cheers, Robb
|
|
|
Post by Sean on May 12, 2009 9:10:51 GMT -5
Darkcyd Racing Gumball 3000 -Afterparty and Beyond Ok Important correction under penalty of sleeping in my car-The Queen informs me that the girls arrived to Palm Beach Motorsports Club 4th, not 7th and reminded me it was in the Darkcyd Gallardo, and they beat hands down Alex and Adrian who left first and drove north instead of South for more than 15 minutes. I guess the key is navigation even though its basically just the turnpike South to the track. It is also the Queens birthday tomorrow, so please send her a Happy Birthday to Tara@darkcydracing.com So with all the cars parked on Ocean drive the Gansavort Hotel was certainly too far to walk with the luggage and we had to deal with that. Peter and Bulent and my good pal Robert Bunn who successfully got me out of hot water with authorities on the 07 Bullrun through incredible lawyering skills, helped with bags and transport. The Gansavort which is the new hot Hotel on South Beach has very different roots and was basically a low rent apartment building in the 80's where elderly people died on a weekly basis according to Adrian who used to live there. So considering the cost per night now, things do come full circle. The lobby was an absolute zoo. 100's of people trying to check in at the same time. Quite a scene, and quite a ruckus. We eventually got a room and while things were getting sorted I found T in the boutique clothing store looking for finishing touches for the white party. Adrian and Alex were hitting on the sales clerk, and I was just trying to get a room key. Eventually I got one, we all got changed, and quickly ran down for our dinner reservations at Phillipe the Pan Asian restaurant in the hotel. Had some visitors including Rjon Robbins my high school friend also an attorney with his wife Ali, Peter and Bulent, their wives or girlfriends, Alex's friends Joe and Michelle who seem to know everyone in the South Beach scene ( I which I know nobody) and ofcourse the Aaron and the Darkcyd girls. I was sitting in the middle of the table of 15 and it was funny because to the left it seems to be the crazy people, which certainly included Adrian the clown, and everyone on the right was engaged in serious conversation while I stradled the middle hedging my bets. Before you know it, dinner went on for 3 hours and we realized we were missing the award ceremony which was at a club called Louis also at the hotel. There is where things quickly went south. Now typically all parties were private, with rally people only and their guests, but Gumball clearly in an effort to save money didn't truly rent out the club except for a few hours for the awards party which we missed and ran so short on time the Cuban Brothers were not even allowed to perform, and were now wanting to let in all the people that were willing to pay $30 bucks a pop to party with Gumballers. So we had trouble getting in the club with all of our guests including Robert Bunn who the bouncers obviously did not know was a state attorney when they pushed him in a pissing contest and would not let him in even though he was my guest. For those that don't know, any State attorney is considered a law enforcement officer and what the bouncer did is technically considered Battery on a officer once identified, which is a third degree felony. Things obviously went South quickly and instead of him making one phone call and having the guy arrested for being a royal ass which he could easily have done, I decided I wanted no part of any silly club that would treat official guests like that and me and the crew went to the roof top bar with pool and these large wicker egg shaped loungers for chilling out and I'm sure more in some cases. I actually ran into Miguel the lead hermnos de cubanos who I promised to buy a drink at the roof top bar, and he promised to introduce me to the lead singer of my favorite band Fat Freddies Drop that if I get my way will play at my 40th birthday party. This actually was much better since it was not a bunch of people in a dungeon standing next to each other like bowling pins, and considering some girls decided to do what drunk girls do and strip down and jump in the pool, it was a much better view. Before we knew it , it was 3 am and we all got kicked out because they were closing down. And I thought Miami was an all night city. The morning was soon here and while I had an important breakfast meeting with my two attorneys which did not involve any traffic related issues thank goodness, missed the comical walk of shame, T and the rest witnessed while getting breakfast with girls that walked out of the hotel in their previous nights gear unaccompanied by anybody. By the time I returned, it was past 12:00 and some people missed their flights or had to do some shuffling because all the cars were still blocking Ocean drive and they could not leave without their supercar being handles by somone somehow. It was for the first time a parking lot two lanes wide on Ocean Drive, and bumper to bumper, so like a reverse jigsaw puzzle there were no removing the pieces you wanted unless others were removed first. So a quick lunch pool side, and to reward the queen some Quick shopping at Bal Harbour which once again had the theme of full circle. I had promised her a watch she saw in Monte Carlo at the end of the Darkcyd private rally in Europe. It was to be a belated birthday present and the limited edition Happy Sport watch was twice what I thought it should be. Well obviously you know where this story is headed and upon my return I quickly discovered the watch was not available in the states. After an unpleasant exchange with the French women in which she wanted to stamp sucker on my forehead before I could purchase it after I declined they first time not wanting to be ripped off, I was effectively S-O-L so that was not an option, and T never got her watch. Well low and behold. guess what is at the Chopard store at Bal Harbour. Bingo! and guess how much less it is then MOnte fricken Carlo?? Bingo again- half. So T got her watch almost a year later and I'm out of the doghouse until tomorrow when I need to get her this years birthday present which I currently don't have. Some things you just never learn from . and that's a wrap Cheers, Robb P.S. you can view pictures from the rally at the link below in raw form. If I ever get some time (doubtful), I will clean them up. rill.smugmug.com/gallery/8166055_wkd7z#533145632_uLsC5 for more write ups on Gumball 3000 and other Darkcyd Racing adventures, please visit www.darkcydracing.com
|
|