The Cannonball Run record was broken...

  Sorry about not posting Yesterday, I worked overtime and was unable to post like I wanted to.  This would have posted Yesterday.

 I remembered the movie "Cannonball Run" and it was hilarious, and even now it still is one of my favorite movie.  I also remember a movie called "The Gumball Rally" 
     It was one of the Counterculture movies that thumbed their nose at the "Nanny State 1.0 that was on the horizon that culminated with the Jimmy Carter Presidency. 

 "The Gumball Rally"

"The explanation of the breaking of the record.

The cast of 'The Cannonball Run', directed by Hal Needham in 1981.

Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

Records are made to be broken—even hair-brained, statistically improbable feats of chutzpah like the coast-to-coast driving trial known to auto enthusiasts as the Cannonball Run. Recently, a trio of relatively unknown perpetrators completed the unregulated run from the Atlantic-to-Pacific in a scant 27 hours and 25 minutes, shaving an hour and 15 minutes off the previous record of 28 hours and 40 minutes set in 2013 by Ed Bolan and Dave Black. 

Just like those who participated in the original “Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash,” created by legendary Car and Driver contributing editor Brock Yates in 1971 and made famous by the “The Cannonball Run” movie franchise starring actor Burt Reynolds in the early 1980s, the latest speed addicts to break the record record, which was first set by Yates and legendary race car driver Dan Gurney, Arne Toman and Doug Tabbutt started their adventure at the infamous Red Ball Garage on Manhattan’s Eastside in New York City and ended at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California, the same finish line used in nearly every coast-to-coast attempt since the original.

The record-setting Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG in front of the Red Ball garage.

Berkeley Chadwick

While the newly minted record holders may not be household names, Toman and Tabbutt, are no strangers to the sub-set of enthusiast culture that follows the unofficial society of continental speed records. In fact, the dynamic duo has been involved in previous New York to California events before, including the Sea-to-Sea Express, a low-brow beater challenge that celebrates pop-culture with themed teams.
For this attempt, the team prepared an all-wheel-drive 2015 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG sedan with upgraded turbos and inter-cooler; fast and stable, it was de-badged to increase the stealthiness of the vehicle’s already unremarkable exterior. A custom fuel cell was fabricated to hold a large amount of fuel and dual fillers were fitted to speed up gas stops. Numerous electronics were employed, including the dual radar detectors, laser diffusers, a police scanner and of, course, a CB radio. The drivers were assisted on the record run by newbie Berkeley Chadwick. As the team lookout, Chadwick scanned the horizon with gyro-stabilized binoculars for any possible entanglements with law enforcement.

According to Road & Track, who broke the story, the attempt started at 12:57 a.m. on November 10th. The team traveled along I-80, I-76, I-70 and I-15, receiving help from a network of lookouts along the route who notified them of potential speed traps and traffic jams. Nearly derailed in Colorado and Utah by the one-two punch of a slow-moving county sheriff followed by a sudden loss of engine power spirits began to wane.

Doug Tabutt at the wheel heading into California.

Arne Toman

Spirits were later buoyed by a motorcycle-riding volunteer in California who offered to run at about 130mph in the left lane using his high beams to clear a path for the AMG: “You guys tuck in behind me and I’ll clear the way for you.”
By the time the team rolled into the Portifino Inn under under cover of darkness, they had set a record, but were welcomed only by an empty parking lot. No idle bystanders, champagne-spraying supporters or trophy-wielding officials were there to mark the occasion. Finally, a bored police officer happened by and after agreeing to stage a few photos lamented how dull his night was. Setting transcontinental speed records is a lonely business—if you’re doing it properly anyway.
With the non-celebration complete, the numbers were tallied from two Garmin GPS units—one verified by a third party. In addition to the record-setting time, the team averaged an impressive 103 mph, spent only 22 minutes and 33 seconds refueling and hit a top speed of 193mph.

The record-breaking team arriving at the Portofino at 1:22 AM.

Arne Toman

That’s right, one-hundred and ninety-three miles per hour! Which brings up an interesting point: Are the guys worried about any retro-active actions from the authorities? Not really, but Toman said he’ll be waiting a year to release any potentially incriminating video of the feat. While there will inevitably be no shortage of people attempting to beat the record, Toman won’t be one of them. He says this run is his last.