

The 5 strangest car races

CNET Car Tech collects the five oddest races around the world.

Gumball 3000
The Gumball 3000 is just one of the stranger races held yearly around the world.

Every car enthusiast worth his or her salt wants to attend events like the Indy 500, 24 Hours of LeMans, and Monaco Grand Prix, or, for fans of classics, the Monterey Historics, Goodwood Revival, or Mille Miglia Storica. But these are generally expensive propositions even for spectators, and forget about participating if you're not an excellent race driver or millionaire, preferably both. Cars are about glamour and going fast, sure, but life is about getting there and enjoying the ride along the way. This collection celebrates some lesser-known automotive competitions for which humor and good old-fashioned fun are essential elements.

With one exception, you can actually enter these events for low-four-figure sums at most, and for some of them that includes the purchase (or construction) of the actual race car itself. So grab a helmet, build up a sleep reserve, and get ready to have some cheap fun with a bunch of like-minded lunatics. Owning a race team isn't just for Roger Penske anymore.