With little traffic across the United States and police agencies preoccupied, why not go for it?
Most car enthusiasts already know at least a little about the fabled Cannonball Run, or the drive from New York to Los Angeles. Basically, rebels try to do the trek as quickly as possible, and that doesn’t involve observing all the speed limits in the states they’re passing through. This car culture phenomena has been immortalized through movies, books, and other forms of entertainment, keeping the legend alive. And the big question is why doesn’t someone set a new record with all these cleared roads, thanks to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States?
Back in 2013, Ed Bolian set a new Cannonball Run Record at a shocking 28 hours and 50 minutes. It was huge news at the time and many thought the record would never fall. Then late last year a trio of guys – Doug Tabbutt, Arne Toman, and Berkeley Chadwick – did the drive in just 27 hours and 25 minutes.
Plenty of people have been contacting Bolian lately to ask if he’s going to try to set a new record. Many have volunteered to help. The thing is Bolian isn’t really in a position to do such a thing, considering he has a brand new baby daughter as of last week. In other words, it would be up to someone else to take advantage of the lack of traffic.
Part of the reason why those three guys edged out Bolian’s record was they were in a faster car, a Mercedes-BenzE63 AMG to be precise. The guys also stripped off all badging and used a silver vinyl wrap to make the car more difficult to identify. Onboard was a nice array of equipment, including a radar detector, thermal scope, CB radio, radar jammer, and an aircraft detection system. Also, they had 18 spotter cars, so their run wasn’t exactly cheap by a long shot.
Maybe someone else is working on getting ready for their COVID-19Cannonball Run attempt. It would be unwise to broadcast that online, so don’t expect to hear anything until the deed is done. Whoever tries to break that record is going to need some serious funding, which will whittle to pool down to only the well-heeled scofflaws of society.
Image credit: YouTube
