GUMBALL 3000: ATLANTA RALLY 2014

Thursday, June 5th at

Location: Centennial Olympic Park

FOR MORE INFORMATION:http://www.gumball3000.com

By Liz and John Attaway

The dark clouds loomed over Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta and the police shouted loudly for everyone to take cover as the thunder cracked nearby. The storm passed by about an hour later and all but put a damper on the rally as the concert and rally as they were both cancelled due to weather. Even though there wasn’t a concert or fanfare, the Gumball 3000 is about the beautifully rare cars and there wasn’t any disappointment there with everything from Ferraris, supped up Mercedes, McLarens, Aston Martins, Bentleys, Jaguars, Lotus and many more. Started in 1999 by Maximillian Cooper, the Gumball got its name “from New York artist Andy Warhol after he used it to describe how the public chew up and spit out popular culture like chewing gum and ‘3000’ as a nod To Cooper’s fascination with the future, particularly at a time when the world was about to enter the 21st Century.” The 2014 Gumball 3000 ran from Miami to Atlanta then to New York. Once in New York the cars were shipped overseas to Edinburgh then runs to London, Paris, Barcelona and finally ends up in Ibiza, Spain.

This year’s coveted Spirit of Gumball 2014 Winner was D.J. Deadmau5 & Tory Belleci of Mythbusters fame’s Purrari 458. The Spirit Award is for the team that encompasses what the Gumball is all about: speed, fun, and sharing the experience with the world. Deadmau5 and Tory streamed their experience with a 360 camera, as well as promoted it on social media, and really helped the Gumball’s word-of-mouth for this year’s race. The prize? They got a 3 food tall Gumball machine. Way to go, guys!

With this being said, nothing would speak louder than pictures, so here is a gallery of the experience including the real celebs: the cars. Enjoy!