A Whole Mess of La Carrera Panamericana

Haller, Rachel and Coop have all checked in with updates on the state of the race. There've been a number of hairy wrecks with at least one person, the navigator in an E-Type, landing in the hospital. Coop reports: More »

La Carrera Panamericana: It's a Race, Not a Rally

Inverting the maxim constantly bandied about by competitors in the Gumball 3000 and Bullrun, among other events, La Carrera Panamericana is most assuredly a race. We've had radio silence from our correspondents from the last day as they were busy with qualifying (qualifying isn't mandatory for La Carrera, but a good session moves you up in the grid). Meanwhile, Haller got his blog on and has a cornucopia of snippets, including this Mini crash photo taken while the pilots of the diminutive British econobox suddenly noticed a Stude piloted by a couple of dudes named Carlos who ended up in the weeds. Thankfully, everyone was okay, and not only that the Mini's back on the grid. Oh, and Rachel qualified 16th of 103 cars in her mostly-stock Lotus. More »

Looking For Mister Goodcar: La Carrera's Unlimited Class Seeks FXX

So we were yammering with Haller too late at night, and as late-night yammering between car guys often ends up, ridiculous ideas spring forth. On the spot, he decided to offer free entry into La Carrera Panamericana's Unlimited Class to any hombre with cojones enough to subject his Ferrari FXX to the Mexican endurance test. And here's a note to the kids over at the Scuderia: if you boys want data, here's a way to gather it. The invite is open. All you have to do is get your car to Mexico. More »

Magnum DGJ: Jalopnik Hits the (Pebble) Beach

Last Thursday, around 7:30am we were supposed to be on our way to Pebble Beach in a Ferrari 308 GTB with Jalopnik reader, Larry Manetti fan and all-around fantastic character Pen Pendleton, who was to play Rick to our Thomas Magnum. But we weren't. We were asleep, having snoozed right through our alarm. A few frantic phone calls and some mad Interwebs clicking later, we were in the Durango on the way to LAX to catch a flight to San Jose, where we were offered a ride to Monterey by a very nice woman from Texas named Susan, who refused payment for the lift. (Thanks, Susan!) We hooked up with Pen upon arrival, who actually had been passed by Haller's two-SUV caravan on PCH on the way up, for which he received a bit of grief. More »

It's Over! Bullrun '06 Wrap-Up

So while some of you have expressed displeasure with our extensive Bullrun coverage, some of y'all have enjoyed it and some have reacted with indifference, we have to say that our own abbreviated sojurn as a mini Sal Paradise to the distaff Dean Moriartys of Keri Rensing and Jennifer Nicole was an experience we'll never forget as long as we live. You can call the celebrities B-grade. You can laugh at some of the posturing, but at the end of it all, it was an incredible gathering of car guys and gals all blowing across the country together and often helping each other out. And while yes, certain things were overwrought, we had a wonderful time on our two days on the rally. Click through for some of our favorite participants' recollections. More »

Bullrun '06: Fontucky to Beverly Hills

The rally was originally supposed to end at The Grove, one of the tonier open-air shopping areas in Los Angeles. However, at the last minute, mall authorities reneged on the deal, as they'd been doing some research on the Internets and decided that the Bullrun wasn't a "family-friendly" event. During the drivers' meeting at Fontana, David Green informed us that our final destination would actually be the Beverly Hilton, our hotel for the evening. More »

Bullrun '06: San Diego to Fontucky

Skiny maneuvers the A6 Avant into proper takeoff position in San Diego. More »

Bullrun '06: Party With Me Punker: San Diego Edition

If you want to blast across the country, you can do it for as little as the cost of gasoline, accomodations, coffee and any incidental repairs and speeding tickets you may incur. If you wanna do it on the Bullrun, you've gotta pony up 14k. As an embedded journalist, we were provided with two nights of accomodations, at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and at the W Hotel in San Diego, which, in the interest of full disclosure, Los Jalopniks must admit to you. They also provided us with meals in Las Vegas, snacks in Lake Havasu, more meals in San Diego, a taco truck in Fontucky and a last supper in Los Angeles. With that out of the way, click through for an abbreviated Jalopnik-style Team Party Crash. More »

Why Carl Lewis Rules

Nine Olympic gold medals should be reason enough for anyone to be considered a badass. But here's the thing: we don't consider Carl a badass because of that, although he was a childhood hero to us. We consider Carl a badass because in the world of sporting/celebrity culture, he's earned the right to be a total dick, yet the night the Bullrun ended, once the party in Haller's room got shut down by the Beverly Hilton's Gestapo, Nick Frankl chewed out the security guards and immediately got on the horn to Carl. Lewis invited us up to contiue the festivities. When we told him we didn't have a hotel room or a ride back to Pedro, he let us crash on his couch. What's more, the man even got us a blanket. That, friends, is class. We've met a number of our childhood and teenage heroes, and Carl's right up there with Joe Strummer in terms of fulfilling our expectations. Trust us, that's rare. Plus, the dude's funny as fuck. More »

Why Did the Bullrunners Cross the Road?

To get to the W Hotel in San Diego, of course. From front to back, we have Keri Rensing (who drove the stage, shaving 1 1/2 hours off the time predicted by the GPS from Lake Havasu to SD), our intrepid reporter, who only nearly soiled his pants once, feeling somewhat like the inverse of Frog in Smokey and the Bandit, and Jennifer Nicole, whose girlish charms got us out of a momentary jam the following day on the way to California Speedway. Bret Haller captured the exhausted trio on their way to a date with bliss bath products. Needless to say, he and Skiny beat us to the checkpoint. More »

Bullrun Update: Kansas Drags

Just got off the phone with Haller and Bullrun co-chief Dave Green, who are currently hurtling along in a Lotus Elise with no air conditioning. There was a morning drag race in, Great Bend, KS, wherein the cab from the Queen Latifah bomb Taxi raced a local sherriff. The cab won. Meanwhile, we'll be joining the rally tomorrow night at an undisclosed location. Haller and Ward have totally shelved the Stude, which means we'll be riding along with a variety of characters. We'll hit the stops along the way, but remember, we only stop for the best. More »

Bullrun Update: Kansas City

So the veterans of the Fourth Battle of Bullrun aren't pulling into Manassas, VA tonight, but rather Kansas City, MO, after bombing down from Chicago via Saint Louis, presumably not stopping to check out the legendary screen door of Belleville, IL. Alex Roy has been aggregating anecdotes for us, and after the jump, we aggregate further. More »

Bullrun Update: What's Up With the Stude?

Just got off the phone with Haller, riding along with Skiny in the Audi A6 4.2. He reports that the Chicago to St. Louis lunch run has some really fast portions to it, roads where it would be theoretically possible to do 200+. Meanwhile, after almost scoring an engine last night due to the generosity of one of our readers (thanks, Steve!), Ward had us google Crower's number. He's gonna try to have the parts overnighted and see if they can't get the last two days of the rally in back in the Studebaker, which is currently travelling in Richard Rawlings' Gas Monkey Garage trailer. Best of luck, guys! More »

Bullrun Update: Haller And Ward Need Chicagoland Speed Shop Help

If anyone out there's got a speed shop in Chicago, or has a buddy who does, Haller and Ward need your help as of right now. They're headed into the City of Big Shoulders with the Stude on Rawlings' trailer, and Kevin thinks he knows what the problem is — the lifters in the Chevy small block are toast. They need to buy a set of solid roller lifters (aka cam followers), (preferably Crower, but brand isn't necessarily important), possibly a set of pushrods, and an intake gasket. If you can help, e-mail davey@jalopnik.com and we'll pass your info on to Kevin Ward. More »

Bullrun Verit: Michigan Mayhem

"Davey: I gotta call you back man. We're doing a little navigating. There's helicopters; cops everywhere. Collins Brothers by the side of the road. It's mayhem. I'll talk to you later." More »

Bullrun Update: Canadian Convoy

As of right now, the Bullrunners are on their way to Chicago after leaving Toronto and heading toward Windsor and Detroit. According to Haller, the Stude is most likely toast after two more cylinders went out. The car is currently on Richard Rawlings' trailer. Speaking of Rawlings, the Texan has picked up another co-driver in the form of William Woo, whose yellow Murcielago took a dirt nap on the first stage, much as it did on the Bonneville Salt Flats during last year's rally. More »

Bullrun Update: The Road to Toronto is Paved With Law-Enforcement

Quick update from the Bullrun. More »

Bullrun Update: Ford GT First into Toronto

We just received an update from Mister Roy in New York, who hasn't slept since Thursday and bombed out to the Poconos and back this afternoon. At 6:58 EDT, the Ferretti/Lehmann-Haupt Ford GT pulled up at the Toronto Hilton, with the Tove Christensen Porsche Turbo in lukewarm pursuit, arriving roughly 30 minutes later. The above photo was shot by a man named Hovik. The Ward/Haller team is near Niagra Falls with one cylinder out. More »

This Ain't Pamplona: The 2006 Bullrun is Off!

NEW YORK: So the initial hype is over and the action has begun. We just got off the phone with Alex Roy, who isn't competing in this year's Bullrun, but showed up in the Team Polizei M5 to escort the drivers up to Pocono and document the happenings. And happenings there were. After the jump, a gang of pics and lotsa anecdotes. More »

Bullrun Madness!

So, as the kids in the cross-country, rich-people-rallying community (and those who obsessively follow such things) know, the Bullrun kicks off tomorrow in Spinelli's backyard. What only a few kids know, is that if all goes according to plan, Davey G. will be an embedded reporter with the crew of Kevin Ward's absolutely nuts-of-a-cheetah '54 Studebaker along with La Carrera Panamericana Unlimited Class co-founder Bret Haller, as well as with a few other crews for the last three days of the rally, catching a flight to an undisclosed locale, and then hauling ass (at legal speeds, of course — it's a rally, not a race), back to Los Angeles. Sadly, we won't be partying with Andretti, as he's apparently wussing out and only driving the beginning of the festivities. More »