Four-Wheel Warrior

Frank151: First and foremost you’re known as a skateboarder, but would you consider yourself a car guy?
Tony Hawk: I love driving cars fast. I’m not an exotic-car aficionado, you know what I mean? I appreciate fine cars and things, but I just want the horsepower. I’ve actually driven a couple of NASCAR events, and I’m used to that sort of adrenaline and going that fast, and I love it.

F151: How did you get involved with Gumball?
TH: I was in London nine years ago or something, and Bam [Margera] said, “Hey, I’m in town doing this car rally thing that we’re gonna make an episode of “Jackass” on, and they’re having their kickoff party tonight, and you should come.” I went and felt the vibe of what was going on there and it felt very much like The Cannonball Run. Everyone was excited at the adventure and not necessarily the race, and it looked like a lot of fun. He introduced me to Max, and Max clearly knew our world, as he used to ride BMX and skate. He and I made a connection and just kept in touch, and eventually I did it.

F151: How many years have you participated?
TH: In some form or another, I have gone four times. Sometimes I’ve only done part of it because of my schedule, and I’ve done the whole thing 
as well.
F151: So at least a leg?
TH: More than a leg, yeah. Usually I do about, say, a third of it. When they did the whole thing through Thailand, I was on the entire one.
F151: Do you remember the first year you participated?
TH: I’m not sure of the year. I want to say it was like 2003. They started in San Francisco.

F151: Do you take the same car every rally, or do you switch it up?
TH: No. When I did that one in San Francisco I had a relationship with Dodge, and they let me use a Viper. In the other years I just went with whatever Max and Julie had. We drove a Morgan across Spain. In the Thailand one I drove my Jeep SRT8, and then last year I actually got my Jeep souped up with 600 horsepower. Same Jeep, different engine.

F151: Do you remember what the first car you owned was?
TH: 1977 Honda Civic.
F151: Nice! Rob Dyrdek had a Civic, too. That’s what he said.
TH: Oh yeah? I bought it used for $1,500.


F151: Who’s your co-pilot when you do Gumball?
TH: Usually we’re trying to do a half skate mission, as well as the drive, so I try to bring skaters along, and guys that I would get along with. Mike Escamilla—his nickname is “Rooftop”—he has been with me for the last couple, and he’s a pro BMX rider, so he and I are always looking for either skate spots or skateparks along the way. Another pro skater came with me through the Thailand trip, that was Mike Vallely. Then last year I did it with one of my best friends, Greg, who has always been wanting to do it, and then my nephew John Dale, who is a good skater, but he’s a really funny comedian. There’s a lot of time in the car. You want to be with guys who you’re gonna enjoy it with. I’ve actually been in cars where people are stressing on everything from directions, to their gear, to their photos, and everything is increased tenfold when you’re stuck in a car with someone for 20 hours.
 
F151: What’s the coolest place you skated in the rally?
TH: We skated around this sort of raised walkway in Thailand over this rainforest that was just crazy. It’s not that it provided a good skate spot, but the scenery was unbelievable. It was like some sort of Disneyland ride that was bigger than life.

F151: Did you have any run-ins with the Law on the rally?
TH: Yeah, a few. The first time I ever did [Gumball] I got pulled over literally coming out of San Francisco. Not because we were speeding, but because the cop said we were the only ones he could catch, and he wanted to know what the hell was going on. And that was it. He just wanted information, then he wanted me to be the sort of spokesperson for everyone and tell them to all 
slow down.
F151: Did he recognize you?
TH: No.

And then this last time, I got a warning in Arizona and a speeding ticket in New Mexico. We actually would leave earlier than everyone else so that we could stop and skate along the way, and then we would end up getting to the checkpoint around the same time as everyone else, and because we were the first ones out, this cop knew that the Gumball rally was coming through, and we were the first ones she saw, so she just popped me. And then in Europe we had a couple of either warnings or tickets, but I wasn’t driving in those. I mean, I drove, but I didn’t get a ticket when I drove.

F151: What kind of music do you like to listen to when you drive?
TH: We listen to everything. I mean, really. I can’t even pinpoint a genre. 
…Well, I can say that we don’t listen to reggae. How’s that?
F151: [Laughs] That works!
TH: I have thousands and thousands of songs on my iPod. Sometimes we play a game where we go full shuffle, and each person has one veto, and if you use up your veto, you have to suffer through whatever song it is. Sometimes it gets so desperate that people start selling their vetoes.
F151: Does that say something about what’s on your iPod?
TH: You try going full random on your iPod, see how you feel about it!
F151: I see your point.


F151: Are you driving again this year?
TH: Yeah. We actually have been lining it up right now. Last year we did a bunch of video segments from the road that we put on ShredOrDie.com, and those went over so well that Julie was super excited to do something like that again. In the past we’ve kind of been beholden to their video crew, trying to show up to their shoots. Because we did this whole renegade thing—we did it all on our own—she really liked it and she thought they were really funny, so she wants us to follow that pattern again. She’s providing us a car in Europe, and then I think I’m gonna get my Jeep shipped to Boston so I can drive it on the US leg, but I’m not shipping my Jeep 
to Europe.


F151: Is there anything else you want people to know about Gumball?
TH: It’s always an adventure. Everyone has their own experience because you’re all in different automobiles; it’s not like this giant pack is together all the time.

I think the one thing I really wanna say is people associate it with reckless endangerment of the public, and in my experience no one really approaches it like that. Sometimes they get a couple idiots behind the wheel. But for the most part, people are very respectful, especially traveling through cities and congested highways. Like I said, I’ve done it four times. I’ve only gotten two speeding tickets, and they weren’t outrageous. I was going 90 in a 70. A couple times though, I’ve heard stories, like guys just go crazy.

We saw a Lamborghini totaled on the streets near the rainforest in Thailand, which was surreal. A Rolls Phantom got outta control in Serbia and we came upon it right after it happened and the whole car was smoking and they thought it was gonna blow up.

It’s not like you can get away with going crazy speeds in the US, but when we hit Serbia, in my Jeep, we got it up to 160, and then the engine shut off, which I didn’t know that was a safety thing. It literally shut off. The car shut off. Once we got down to 150...140, it clicked back in.

But exactly as Max and Julie say—it’s not a race, it’s a rally. I never know who wins. I honestly have never even followed up or cared. It’s just an amazing adventure. When do you get to drive—especially in the extreme case—three continents over the course of a week? And you’re in the same car!

F151: Gumball aside, what have you been up to lately?
TH: I’ve been doing a lot of traveling and skating. I just got back from the Olympics. I went up there to support my boy Shaun White. I am gonna be going on tour this summer and this fall with the Birdhouse team, and doing a new videogame.

www.tonyhawk.com