Gumball 3000 blasts past Toronto, Detroit then visits Indy 500

The Gumball 3000 kicked off last Friday and has made a massive impression wherever this automotive spectacle roams. The Times Square launch was epic with tens of thousands of wild fans in attendance. Tourists, pedestrians, police, soldiers and even homeless people were all present digital camera in hand (well maybe not the homeless) to see the 100+ cars and the celebrities in attendance amongst the mayhem.

And the kick-off did not disappoint as all of the supercars fired to life and the teams took off into the NYC weekday gridlock. They headed straight for the Lincoln Tunnel right quick and packs started forming as they quickly exited the Manhattan metropolis. As soon as the road opened up, well the excitement got the best of some of the Gumballers and the boys in blue had a couple of them pulled over.

Within a five miles of the launch, we also saw the first mechanical casualty of the rally, a 1957 Chevy. The supercharged beast with a blower sticking out the hood clearly wasn't ready and one of the other cars, a Morgan 3-wheeler never showed at the checkpoint either. The turnpike of New Jersey and Interstates of Pennsylvania were crowded with packs of Gumball 3000 cars with an entourage of support vehicles and fans orbiting them. At several overpasses, hordes of young fans lined up to get a glimpse of the supercars running through their small towns and when they made noise, drivers cracked the throttle to put on a show.







After reaching the border, the Gumball field crossed over at Buffalo into Niagara Falls. As if by some sort of miracle, everyone made it through complete foreign plates and questionable documentation in hand. The Gumball field assembled to a warm welcome at the Skylon tower parking spot where the cars were left on display. But as quickly as it began, cars started firing up and rolling out pass OPP fun police towards Toronto where they were on display in Toronto's upscale Yorkville district.

After some late night partying, the Toronto stop soon became history and the 401 highway became their path to the next checkpoint - the Motor City. While in Detroit, the Gumball grid lined up at GM Headquarters almost as if to say, check out what GM doesn't manufacture. It was noted that GM was not well represented on the rally with no ZR1, ZL1 or even a lowly Z06 to be seen.

Post Detroit, it was off for some R&R in Indianapolis for a couple days. Yes, a couple days as Gumball is typically five days of straight driving but the management decided to include the Indy 500 race in the itinerary. Tonight they will be in Kansas City, Kansas to make a memorable dent in the mid-west.

Image Credit: Copyright 2012, Mark Pereira and Ryan Belville / AOL