Gumball 3000 2010
On May 5th, 2010 Team Balthazar was officially formed. Balthazar and Jake drove in the Gumball and met several participants. Unfortunately, Garth had to work that day, so we were only operating at about 50% of our potential. Balthy and Jake made the best of it, though, and Garth was able to drive with the Gumball on their last leg and into NYC. Check out the videos page to see his video of Gumball 2010.
Jake's Story
On March 26th, 2010, I was pulled over for going 52mph in a 30 zone. The officer gave me a court summons for May 5th and the first thing that I thought was "oh man, that’s the same day that Gumball is coming through New Hampshire!" That ticket turned out to be one of the best things to happen to me in a long time. I was forced to take May 5th off of work to go to court, so when I got out of court at 9:30 AM I didn't have anything to do except get on the highway and try to meet the Gumball 3000.
Once I got to the highway I set the cruise control to 45mph and waited for Gumball cars to pass me. Just when I was about to lose hope and head back home, Team Pavo and a few other cars passed me. Game on. Balthy and I followed for a couple of miles, filming and snapping photos as we went. When the convoy that I was following got off the highway to get gas, I followed them to and introduced myself and Balthy. Everyone was super friendly, if a little tired. They told me that the next Gumball checkpoint was the Ben and Jerry's factory near Burlington, VT and I decided to drive with them there to see the rest of the Gumballers.
After another hour or so of driving we got to Ben and Jerry's. Balthy and I wandered around meeting different Gumballers and answering everyone's questions about Balthazar. For the most part I stuck with Team Pavo and the rest of the convoy that I drove up with, but we met a fair number of other Gumballers. Balthazar met Tony Hawk, the rapper Eve, and the owner of a Bugatti Veyron, and he and I were interviewed for a Swedish TV show.
After an hour or two people started leaving and our Gumball adventure came to an end. Our 4 hours with Gumball cemented our conviction that we need to take part in the Gumball. Being there as a fan was awesome, but Balthy and I were outsiders, and we want to be there for real and for the full experience.
Thanks to the support and encouragement Balthazar got from the Gumballers I have been motivated to continue putting 110% into Team Balthazar and working to get to Gumball 3000 next year.
I would like to extend a very sincere thank you to Team Pavo and the other Gumballers. Without your support Team Balthazar would not exist.
