Cannonball Run: COVID-19 style.
- Thread starter keepngoal
- Start date
Cyclonepride
Thought Police
Good thing he didn't make a run for the border or he would need a lot more than Powerade bottles.
I liked his quote about if anyone tells you Mustangs go faster than 158 they are lying.
There's a stretch of Route 66 between OKC and Tulsa that I tried redlining a rental Mustang too... I'll agree with that statement
There's a stretch of Route 66 between OKC and Tulsa that I tried redlining a rental Mustang too... I'll agree with that statement
You definitely have to pick the right cars. I remember back in the late 90s when I was at a dealership and usually knew the top end of most vehicles. Firebirds were 115 and Avengers were 119. Couldn't get anything over that. Never had a mustang hit though.
This guy basically did a 24-hour (well, 24+) endurance race solo in a street-legal car with only one stop against real-world traffic and real-world highway patrol.
Stupid. Dangerous. Absolute legend. Put that hammer down and give 'em hell.
Stupid. Dangerous. Absolute legend. Put that hammer down and give 'em hell.
His record will be with an asterisk, at best. Canonball records have been falling again and again during Covid because drivers aren't dealing with full real-world traffic.
Quoting and replying to myself; bad form, I know.
I'm not necessarily saying that choosing to attempt a run during Covid is a bad idea. Lots and lots of planning goes into preparing to attempt the Cannonball. Drivers (usually teams) choose the best time to leave the Red Ball so as to avoid rush hour in the Midwest cities (St. Louis). So choosing a day to avoid traffic isn't that different.
If you have interest in the Cannonball, I highly recommend Brock Yates' book. The movies are entertaining, but really very little of the spirit of the original races made it to film.
I heard the analogy floating around that we will look back on this someday like the steroid era in baseball -- a weird historical circumstance, never to be repeated, where the numbers are not comparable to what came before or after. There will also be an asterisk. I am not sure that works, but I agree with its point (and yours) that doing this when COVID has depressed traffic load and distracted police to an extreme degree.
I always thought the point and spirit of Cannonball was you have to take the road as it is. Bad luck, good luck, and weird circumstances is just part of the game.
Then again, maybe with a depressed economy and work-from-home (so far less commuter traffic), this is closer to a new normal for the long-term and not an aberration. Or maybe everything will recover, in which case nobody is beating this time unless they are running an LMP1 car and we really do go out and defund the police.
That is one thing that stood out to me about the recent solo record. It sounds like the guy just went for it. Besides picking a good start time and hooking up with his buddies in a truck for a quick refueling, he did not make very ornate or complex preparations to either the vehicle or with spotters and screeners along the way beforehand.
He just went for it, had "good RNG," and set that blistering time.
If you read further into the article he also has restored clunkers for that other classic coast to coast race. The man is an automotive baller and that's just the simple truth. I liked his run way more than the mercedes with spotters and all that from a couple of years ago.
