I stumbled across a story the other day that caught me off guard. It was a report that a three-man team, driving a 2004 Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG had shattered the record for the fastest non-stop drive across the United States, what has affectionately come to be known as “The Cannonball Run.” I wasn’t so much stunned that the trio had carved over two hours off the record time (a tremendous achievement), I was surprised that in this day and age of high speed chases, speed cameras and plaintiff’s attorneys that anyone would attempt it at all.
The notion of being the fastest person to drive from coast-to-coast in an automobile came about in 1933, when racer Edwin “Cannonball” Baker drove his Graham-Paige Blue Streak from New York to Los Angeles in 53 hours, having only slept a half hour in the process. Among Baker’s prior achievements was a coast-to-coast run on an Indian motorcycle in 11 days. This result was made all the more spectacular by the fact that it was achieved in 1914, when decent roads were all but nonexistent!
Obviously, as America’s system of roads improved—and the number of automobiles skyrocketed—it became logistically all but impossible to stage a “Stunt” like Baker’s…at least legally. It was for this very reason that a group of Car and Driver staffers, led by Brock Yates, became smitten by the idea of holding a coast-to-coast race in 1971. Everywhere in American society at the time, people were “rebelling against the man,” and what better way to automotively express that rebellion than to hold an anything goes race, across country, on public roads, pitting each driver and team against the clock and the local constabulary. That first year’s race drew a wild and diverse entry of serious and not-so serious drivers and cars. In the end, however, it was Yates co-driving a Ferrari Daytona with ringer Dan Gurney that pulled into Redondo Beach, California, first on November 17th, with a total elapsed time of 35 hours and 54 minutes. [pullquote]
In modern day America, perhaps some records should remain unbroken
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The race was held again in 1972, where a Cadillac finished first in 37 hours and then again in 1975, when a Ferrari 246 Dino won with a time of 35 hours. Finally, in 1979, the team of Dave Heinz and Dave Yarborough claimed the final running of what had then become known as the “Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash,” behind the wheel of a 1978 Jaguar XJS, with a new record time of 32 hours and 51 minutes. By 1979, even Yates began to see the lunacy in turning a band of oftentimes unqualified drivers loose on American highways, in ever-faster cars. According to Yates, in his book Cannonball, “It was one thing for a world-class driver like Dan (Gurney) to run a car at that velocity; it was another thing entirely to let a rank amateur loose on the public highways with a wild machine (referring to a Lamborghini Countach). I immediately thought, ‘No you’re not. Because I’ve run the last Cannonball.’”
In the years that followed, though there was no longer a “formal” Cannonball race, individuals would periodically attempt to beat the record. Doug Turner and David Diem lowered the mark to 32 hours and 7 minutes, in 1983 driving a Ferrari 308 and that record stood until 2006 when Alex Roy and David Maher drove a 2000 BMW M5 across country in 31 hours and 4 minutes. It was this last record that was recently broken by the team of Ed Bolian, co-driver Ed Black and passenger Dan Huang, in Bolian’s customized Mercedes. In order for them to lower the mark to a jaw-dropping 28 hours and 50 minutes(!), Bolian had his AMG Mercedes kitted out with two auxiliary 22-gallon fuel tanks (in addition to the stock 23-gallon tank) as well as a NORAD-inspired array of electronics including three radar detectors, two laser jammers, two GPS units, CB radio, rear light kill switch and chargers and holders to run iPads so that the team could monitor speed trap locating web sites like Trapster. Equipped with bed pans and presumably other suitable containers, the trio stopped only three times for fuel in their 28-hour run, yielding an average speed across 2,813.7 miles of 98 mph! Surprisingly, the run was authenticated by a GPS tracking service (typically used by trucking companies), which not only verifies their record, but presumably could also serve as hard evidence to convict them of violations all across the country! In Roy and Meher’s case, they waited over a year to announce their record breaking run—after the statue of limitations had expired. I guess being the fastest, doesn’t necessarily make you the smartest!
Like any enthusiast, I was entranced by the idea of the Cannonball back in the 1970s. Of course, in the 1970s, I was also entranced by the underground “Banzai” racers of Southern California who would venture out onto the Los Angeles freeway system in the wee hours of the morning to drive purpose-built racing machines like the Porsche 917 at outrageous speeds. But that was then, and this is now. Maybe I’m getting old(er), but while I’m intrigued by this latest run, in 2013 it seems kind of pointless and reckless. Do we really care anymore?
When asked about the dangers to the public, in 1971, Dan Gurney commented, “We did it all without them (the public) having the slightest idea of what was going on. As long as you can do something without endangering anybody or inconveniencing them, how can you say something like the Cannonball Baker is wrong?” True, for 1971. But I think, in 2013, it would be very hard to drive 2,813-miles across a country with 62 million vehicles—at an average speed of 100 mph—and not periodically imperil the public.
For both nostalgia and safety, perhaps some records should remain unbroken.
Casey Annis
Publisher/Editor
