The deserts of Mexico. Race cars pieced together on shoestring budgets. A bunch of folks who take risks for a living, blasting said cars through said desert at breakneck speeds all for the sake of fun, glory … and maybe a bit of networking. What could possibly go wrong?

After finding himself “disappointed with a lot of networking events lately”, Clint Nelsen (Co-Founder of Startup Weekend and now Startup Labs) decided to try something new. Something ridiculous. Called Bootstrapped Rally, it’s a 2-3 day automobile race just for VCs, Angels, and the startups they love.

The main rules:

• Teams must buy their own car, and it can’t cost more than $2,000
• Teams can upgrade their car, but they’ve got a limited budget there as well (safety upgrades excluded — they can spend as much as they want on those)
• Rather than sponsor stickers, VCs must cover their cars in the logos of their portfolio companies. Startups use the logos of their investors. Awesome.

They throw in a few twists (teams can’t spend more than $25 per night on accommodations, for example — which, depending on what part of Mexico they’re in, could make things interesting), but the overall message is simple: get from point A to point B, have a ton of fun, and try not to crash your car into a tree.

This idea has only been in the works for a week or so, but I’m told that some guys from Shasta and H-Farm Ventures are already on board. Oded Vardi (Yossi’s son) apparently wants in.

They’re already in touch with the organizers of Mexico’s largest rally race, which should let them temporarily shut down streets in any towns they pass through. So don’t worry: they’re playing it (relatively) safe. The route isn’t set in stone yet and they’re still working out how much it’ll cost, but Clint says he has no intent on making money here. You can find more details as they develop here.

If Mike and MG don’t have a car in this thing, I’ll be sorely disappointed.

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