Bill Sohl (billsohl@planet.net) wrote, regarding the "Gumball":
> Been there, done that!
> 1968 TR-250 (over 8000 miles covered in 8 days)
> The One Lap of America replaced the Gumball after Brock Yates
> recognized that sooner or later someone really would get
> killed or,, worse yet, kill an innocent bystander.
> PS - Finished 15th overall of a field of 50+ entrants.
And Joe Curry (spitlist@gte.net) added:
> Actually, "Gumball" was a movie takeoff on the original,
> "Cannonball, Sea to Shining Sea, Rally" of which Brock
> Yates...etal were part of. I remember reading summaries of
> the event in Brock's articles way back when... thinking how
> cool it would be to participate...
> Oh well, one can always dream.
Actually . . . it was the "Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea
Memorial Trophy Dash", running from New York to the Portofino
Inn in Redondo Beach CA.
If I recall correctly, the record for the trip is still held by
Yates and Dan Gurney, driving a Ferrari Daytona, with an average
speed in the mid-eighty mph range.
The true beauty of it, of course, was that there were no rules.
Although it was understood that you were supposed to drive the
car on land rather than into the belly of a transport plane.
Jim Hill
Madison WI
SpyderWeb Vintage Racing
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