A Fast History of the Cannonball Run

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the Cannonball Run is not just an entertaining film starring Burt Reynolds Dom DeLuise the Rat Pack and Farrah Fawcett it was in fact a real cross-country outlaw road race in the history of cannonball really exists in three chapters the actual cannonball Baker sea to shining sea Memorial Trophy - the continuation events that followed and now the modern interpretations cannonball was actually the brainchild of Brock Yates and Steve Smith while they worked at Car & Driver the name came from Irwin Cannonball Baker who was known worldwide for over a hundred point-to-point average speed records including runs from New York to LA in cars and on motorcycles and Yates who was always a fan of some civil disobedience and a champion of libertarian ideas design cannonball to really reflect his frustration with the imposition of government on daily life it also grew to include the manifestation of their displeasure with the 55 mile an hour speed limit being imposed the double nickel and they designed an event to prove that capable drivers and capable cars were capable of crossing the country much faster than that very safely and so in May of 1971 Yates Smith Jim Williams and brockett's jr. set out in the moon trash van provided by Dodge to see what was possible that was the first cannonball but the event was also run four times as a multi-car competitive event 1971 1972 and 1975 they left from the red ball garage where Car and Driver was known to house their test fleet and they drove to the Portofino in now the Portofino hotel and marina and the first event in 1971 was won by dan gurney driving with brock yates in a Ferrari Daytona in 1979 the final event they actually left from Darien Connecticut that event was won by David Hines and Dave Yarborough in a Jaguar XJS with a time of 32 hours and 51 minutes that car is currently owned by Richard Rawlings and Dennis Collins of gas monkey garage I've tried to buy it a few times but the movie which came out in 1981 was based very closely on a lot of things that really happened in the 1979 running hal needham road with brock yates in the train Khanh medevac ambulance that was actually used in the film they're running with law enforcement in New Jersey was exactly like what happened in the movie the other characters like the Rat Pack Sammy Davis jr. and Dean Martin and the Ferrari were based on the flying fathers and the right bra racing team was a real team that competed and they were the inspiration behind the Countach girls obviously rumors circulated as to exactly why Yates had chosen not to do it again whether it was pressure from car and driver or the producers of the film there were also rumors that another run was scheduled for 1989 some cars have floated around that were pretty nicely prepared and again no one knows exactly why that didn't happen but there was a rumor that law enforcement got wind of it and that's why it was shut down impressively in all the miles of cannonball history the only noteworthy incident that ever happened was when the right brow racing team ran their limousine off the road and the only recorded injury was a broken arm in 2002 Brock Yates published his book cannonball that chronicled the history of the events and had contributions from many of the competitors from over the years the second chapter of cannonball history consists of the continuation events Yates created the one lap of America which initially began as a lap driving around the United States about 11,000 miles as a group drive now many of the participants misunderstood this to be another full-scale cannonball race and the antics were pretty crazy and we've had Jim Fino here to discuss what happened in 1984 and 1985 but that event continues to today and has really evolved into an awesome event run by Brock Yates jr. as a circular route around some part of the United States stopping each day at a new racetrack for a Time Trial event now that was the only official Cannonball continuation event but the Cannonball errs were not done richard dougherty a cannonball veteran started an event called the US Express it ran in 1981 82 and 83 the fastest time to come out of that event was 32 hours and 7 minutes from david diem and Doug Turner in a Ferrari 308 there's not that much known about the US Express but it was best documented in the film 32 hours 7 minutes by Corey wells the footage from that and of Alex Roy's run is currently being used by jf Musial to produce the film 8 to some other cannonball veterans ran in an event called the Michael a Preston memorial for ball rally named after the events founder who was murdered before the first event it ran from 1981 to 1984 and not that much is known about it but it's reported that there were no major accidents a lot of tickets and then it was done by invitation only with mostly race car drivers and stunt drivers involved today there are also many events that pay some form of homage to cannonball the gumball 3000 Bull Run goldrush Rallye all these kind of exotic car rallies have their genesis from the notion of Cannonball Run there's also an event called the cannonball memorial run where police officers drive across the country to raise money for the families of fallen officers the third chapter of cannonball history includes two modern interpretations of cannonballs solo attempts and cheap car races in October of 2006 Alex Roy Dave Maher and Corey wells set out in a BMW m5 and crossed the country from the New York classic car club to the Santa Monica Pier in 31 hours and four minutes this was a new record now they waited a year to announce that and in that time in May of 2007 at the start of the bull run rally a participant named Jay Riecke Bette Dennis Collins and Richard Rawlings that they could not beat the fastest cannonball time of 32 hours 51 minutes in their Ferrari 550 Maranello they left from the red ball and 31 hours and 59 minutes later they arrived at the Portofino even though this was not the fastest time it was the fastest time that had been announced and so they claimed the record until October 2007 when Alex Roy announced his drive and released his book the driver in October of 2013 dave black and I drove my Mercedes CL 55 along with Dan Wong from the red ball to the Portofino in a new record of 28 hours 50 minutes since then over a dozen cannonball themed records have been claimed on motorcycles and three-wheeled cars and electric cars and going from the Atlantic to the Pacific along a southern route all sorts of stuff and there's really been an explosion of fervour around that idea also this year in 2018 the second fastest time has been set twice the first time by Seth Rose and Ronnie in in an Audi s8 with a time of 30 hours and 43 minutes and about a month later it was beaten by Troy Schneider and Steven grow in a Chevrolet Corvette with a time of 29 48 the second aspect of the modern Cannonball interpretation is the cheap car races the 2904 was established by John ficarra as a tribute to cannonball but combining the wackiness of the 24 Hours of lemons and the idea was that they would drive from New York to John's home in San Francisco 2904 miles for $1 a mile the purchase price repairs done to the car gas tolls tickets food things like that all had to be less than two thousand nine hundred and four dollars you could spend money beyond that on safety related items but the event was run eight times from two thousand seven to two thousand seventeen twice from New York to LA and six times from New York to San Francisco I had the fastest time from New York to LA with co-drivers Crist a chick and David clink in a Mercedes as 55 of 32 hours and five minutes Arnie Tommen syed ahmed and myles Compton had the fastest time from New York to San Francisco set in 2017 in a Crown Vic of 31 hours and 45 minutes Jon vicara the events founder also holds the record for the most competitive crossings at 9:00 as a tribute to the 2904 which was a tribute to cannonball the c2c Express was founded in 2015 by Ben Charlie Safari Wilson from New Zealand this had a similar idea the cars had to be purchased for less than three grand but they also had to be period-correct to cannonball the event has been run four times generally going from red ball to Portofino except in 2017 when it ran concurrently with the 2904 finishing in San Francisco the fastest time to come out of the c2c Express was by Doug Cabot den Adel dare you SH and Matthew stick Coe in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo of 33 hours and 33 minutes in 2018 now obviously each mile of every one of these epic drives is its own amazing story that deserves to be told and we do our best here at vin wiki to give a platform to any canon ballers or enthusiasts that want to come by and share their stories and then we love this stuff but we never know what the future really holds for the idea of cannon ball I mean obviously we all talk about how amazing it would be to have a no-holds-barred cross-country race modern cars no budget limitation but it appears that you'd have to be even crazier than any of us are to actually organize something like that in today's political climate and fortunately there's constant discussion about a new movie either a remake or a continuation of the Cannonball Run franchise and Lady Pamela Brock Yates Widow is the figurehead that kind of manages the branding and the movie rights of that so we're excited about what that can become also there's a much more comprehensive documentary effort underway called the real Cannonball Run that dives much deeper into most of the stories that I've kind of alluded to here today but it's not just about these one-off runs or the records of the group drives or anything that's happened in the past the spirit of cannonball really lives on in the right foot in the heart of any car enthusiast that arrives at one coast and sets their sights on the opposite with no intention to slow down or stop anywhere in between [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] [Applause]

Channel: VINwiki

Views: 227,006

Rating: 4.9441071 out of 5

Keywords: Cannonball Run, Cannonball, Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, New York, Los Angeles, Red Ball Garage, Portofino, Inn, Hotel and Marina, Redondo Beach, Ed Bolian, VINwiki, Car Stories, Brock Yates, Hal Needham, Richard Doherty, Steve Smith, Car and Driver, magazine, journalist, Burt Reynolds, Dom Delouise, Rat Pack, Dean Martin, The 2904, C2C Express, Race, Alex Roy, Richard Rawlings, Gas Monkey Garage, Doug Demuro, Jaguar XJS, 1979, V12

Id: rYv2OJro8Oo

Length: 10min 8sec (608 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 21 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/PM_ME_UR_YOGA_BOOTY]

Down the VinWiki rabbit hole I go!

[u/trd86]

Shout-out to my favorite movie: Speed Zone!