Club Cobra - Any Cobras in the Gumball 3000 this week?

This kind of driving on public roads is not good publicity for sport car enthusiasts.

This article was in today's Dallas Morning News:

http://www.dallasnews.com/texassouth...all.5e9b0.html

Arkansas: Police put dent in rally
34 tickets issued to Gumball 3000 drivers racing across nation

04/30/2002

Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas state police clamped down on drivers in the nationwide Gumball 3000 road rally, issuing 34 tickets for speeding, reckless driving and tailgating to drivers rushing across the state.

Some were driving 140 mph on Interstate 40 in eastern Arkansas.

"There was this one yellow Lamborghini, and they didn't even have a police car that could catch it," a Hazen Police Department dispatcher said.

Tennessee police alerted Arkansas authorities about the drivers, and a number of motorists called officers to complain about motorists speeding and swerving.

By the time the coast-to-coast run hit Texas, Department of Public Safety troopers were ready. They issued warnings to three drivers who traveled through Rockwall County on Saturday in "high-profile sports cars."

The vehicles were traveling slower than they had in Arkansas, officials said.

In Arkansas, one driver tried to pass a tractor-trailer on the right shoulder and went into a ditch. The driver was not injured.

"We have fools out here passing on the shoulder every day, but nothing like this as far as sheer numbers," state police Sgt. Jackie Speer said. "It was just a matter of time before they got in any accidents."

The Gumball 3000 started Thursday at the Plaza Hotel in New York and is scheduled to end Tuesday in California.

Staff writer Matt Stiles in Dallas contributed to this report.