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Transportation United States

Racing Team Exploits Pandemic to Drive Across America in Under 27 Hours (roadandtrack.com) 119

Posted by EditorDavid from the Cannonball-run dept.
There's a new landspeed record for driving from New York City to Los Angeles -- but "unlike most speed records and races, there's no sanctioning body or official rules," notes Road and Track. "That's because setting a 'Cannonball' record invariably involves breaking multiple traffic laws."

But now Cannonball purists "are criticizing the run as grossly irresponsible while the nation deals with an emergency of unseen magnitude." schwit1 shares their report from Thursday: Only a few months have passed since we reported that the New York-to-Los Angeles Cannonball record was broken. It's allegedly been broken again. The 26 hour, 38 minute time — which beats the record set in November by more than 45 minutes — appears to be legitimate, according to Ed Bolian, a Cannonball insider and driver who set his own 28 hour, 50 minute record in 2013....

All we know about this new set of scofflaws is that there were three, maybe four of them, and that they were driving a white 2019 Audi A8 sedan with a pair of red plastic marine fuel tanks ratchet-strapped into its trunk. They started at the Red Ball Garage in New York City at 11:15 pm on April 4, and ended less than 27 hours later at the Portofino Hotel & Marina in Redondo Beach, California, the traditional start and end points of a Cannonball attempt... [A]n exuberant friend posted a picture of the Audi on Facebook this week — situated among a number of other high-dollar cars, with its trunk open to show the auxiliary fuel tanks — along with the team's alleged time. Within a day, hundreds of people had shared the post, and social media chat groups were abuzz with Cannonball aficionados offering up opinions on the matter...

[R]esponses ran the gamut from "Nice job!" to "Who the hell do those guys think they are?" to "Who the hell are we to judge them?" There was talk of not recognizing the new 26:38 time set by the white Audi team as a record, due to the extraordinary circumstances.

But as John Ficarra, the creator and organizer of The 2904, pointed out, there is no sanctioning body for illegal cross-country races and time trials.
Slashdot covered previous records in 2007 (31 hours, 4 minutes) and in 2013 (28 hours, 50 minutes).

The average speed of this run was over 103 miles per hour -- for more than 26 hours.
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Racing Team Exploits Pandemic to Drive Across America in Under 27 Hours More

Racing Team Exploits Pandemic to Drive Across America in Under 27 Hours

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    • Re:With any luck (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Macgruder ( 127971 ) <(moc.liamg) (ta) (nosmailliw.seidnahc)> on Sunday April 12, 2020 @11:02AM (#59936936)

      On the 405 at Rush Hour, sure. On interstates that are basically empty with no traffic to due various (illegal and Non-Constitutional) stay-at-home orders, I don't see what the big deal is.

      • Re:With any luck (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Arthur, KBE ( 6444066 ) on Sunday April 12, 2020 @11:04AM (#59936946)
        From a safety perspective, this seems precisely when you'd want to attempt something like this.

      • Re: With any luck (Score:3, Interesting)

        by dknj ( 441802 )

        In my state you can violate driving laws so long as the state cannot prove you were doing so in an unsafe manner. Driving 100mph+ in a high performance vehicle with no dangers to others on the roadway means your case is getting thrown out.

        • Uh, which state is this, and can you give us court case references proving your assertion?

          That said, in, I think it was Victoria or New South Wales in Australia, some wanker in a Bentley did escape a conviction a decade or so ago by pleading that it was safe to speed because his car was designed to travel that fast, safely...

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Uberbah ( 647458 )

        So why haven't you moved to Somalia, Libertarian Paradise, where you can get some free market ventilators [youtube.com] along with your free market cholera? Who cares if tens of millions die because a pandemic spreads unchecked and hospitals are overwhelmed in the name of freedumb- until its your dumb ass in a medically induced coma, of course. If you're lucky enough to find an open ICU bed, otherwise enjoy choking to death on your own mucus.

        • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

          by alvinrod ( 889928 )
          I never understand why people refer to Somalia as a libertarian paradise when it's a failed communist state [wikipedia.org] that fell apart when the Soviet Union collapsed. A big part of the reason it's never recovered or become truly stable is that it's been undergoing an off-and-on civil war since then with a jihadist group, and the northern part of the country is essentially an autonomous region that wants to be an independent country. [wikipedia.org]

          • I never understand why people refer to Somalia as a libertarian paradise when it's a failed communist state [wikipedia.org] that fell apart when the Soviet Union collapsed. A big part of the reason it's never recovered or become truly stable is that it's been undergoing an off-and-on civil war since then with a jihadist group, and the northern part of the country is essentially an autonomous region that wants to be an independent country. [wikipedia.org]

            Because you can quite literally do whatever you want in Somalia without any government oversight or interference, which is exactly what libertarians think that they want. Of course what happens in actual practice is that the government may not care what you do but the warlord down the street might very much care a lot more about what you do than any sensible government would.

            • You try doing whatever you want in Somalia, there are people there with guns that will demand taxes or fealty.

              True anarchism does not exist and is not what libertarianism is anyway, Somalia is a failed socialist/communist state with a patchwork of governments and warlords that want to implement either theocratic or other forms of dictatorships.

              • Communism and socialism have nothing to do with current Somalia. It's' like calling India a "failed British colony." Sure, that's the history, but it doesn't describe the current situation very well.

            • Because you can quite literally do whatever you want in Somalia without any government oversight or interference, which is exactly what libertarians think that they want.

              I know a lot of libertarians, and none of them want that. This is your left-wing fantasy of what libertarianism is.

              One of the fundamental functions of government is to enforce contracts, which is obviously missing in Somalia. It's one of the things that separates anarchy from a well-ordered society.

              • Because you can quite literally do whatever you want in Somalia without any government oversight or interference, which is exactly what libertarians think that they want.

                I know a lot of libertarians, and none of them want that. This is your left-wing fantasy of what libertarianism is.

                One of the fundamental functions of government is to enforce contracts, which is obviously missing in Somalia. It's one of the things that separates anarchy from a well-ordered society.

                The point is there is no such thing as a libertarian because what they think they want is not what they'll actually get and once they see what they've got they will go running to the government to do something about it. And no, I am not left-wing. We all want roads, electricity, clean water, and all kinds of other nice things that require a government who actually regulates and taxes people and doesn't completely leave people to their own devices. Have you ever noticed that the only people who claim to be

                • No. But that's because I'm not a closet left-winger who doesn't actually know any libertarians. Unlike, say, you.

    • It would be more fun to put a bounty on them.

    • Wouldn't hold up in court. You can't charge someone with speeding "somewhere". You have to designate which road's limit was breached. And you need actual evidence, not some math formula that says the car sped somewhere at some time.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Baleet ( 4705757 )
      You're a lot of fun, I bet.
    • You can't make any moving violation stick without an officer (or a stand in like a camera) seeing it happen. That's why we know the identity of past Cannonball record holders.

    • You mean, just like they have for all the other Cannonball runners who set a record?

      Not.

      You're an idiot.

  • Yes! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Brett Buck ( 811747 ) on Sunday April 12, 2020 @10:41AM (#59936828)

    Shame on these people, don't they know they should be at home performing self-flagellation and wearing a hair shirt, because there is a problem and everyone should just wait around at home and wail in torment? Instead of doing something dangerous at the absolutely best possible time to do it to minimize the risk to the public?

          I am no fan of the Cannonball run people, but, if you are going to do it anyway, now is the time, both from a competitive staandpoint, and a safety standpoint. It's absurd to sit home and be miserable just because some people got sick, for sympathy's sake.

            They aren't spreading it in any consequential way, they are stuck in a car for 26 hours by themselves, with minimal contact.

    • Agreed, it's ridiculous for "purists" to whine about this being "grossly irresponsible", when the entire concept is pretty damned irresponsible to begin with. It's probably safer to do this during a pandemic with everyone staying home.

      • Yep. Alex Roy whined about how it wasn't funny because they could hit a truck full of medical supplies people are depending on. But guess what? That's always true! And they'd be more likely to hit such a truck with more other vehicles on the road.

        • Precisely. Of course Roy was whining about it because doing it now made it possible or even relatively easy to set a new record. The real hangups are around NYC and LA, you can sometimes end up taking 4 hours to go from San Bernadino to Redondo beach, it's not going to take that now.

          If they wanted to argue that this makes the time "illegitimate", then they ought to have to prove that the others are "legitimate" in some way, which, given they averaged just a little under 100 mph

  • Yes this is grossly irresponsible (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bluegutang ( 2814641 ) on Sunday April 12, 2020 @10:44AM (#59936842)

    But not because of coronavirus.

    You're perfectly safe from viruses in a sealed car. Just don't socialize with people at your destination.

    But driving at an *average* of 103mph on US highways, you endanger yourself and the people around you due to collisions.

    Yes this run was grossly irresponsible, but so is every other Cannonball run. There is no real point in criticizing this run in particular.

    • Once upon a time people loved these stunts.

      So much so that the cowboy movie craze of the late 60s into early 70s was wholly annihilated, replaced by the crazy driver movie craze of the late 70s into early 80s.

      Death Race 2000, Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit, Mad Max, ...

      • This was an A8. That must be the most boring way possible to do 120mph.

        • Re:Yes this is grossly irresponsible (Score:5, Funny)

          by hawk ( 1151 ) <hawk@eyry.org> on Sunday April 12, 2020 @05:56PM (#59938372) Journal

          no, not even close.

          A 1970 Fleetwood, however . . . and even at single digit fuel consumption, it *might* be able to carry more onboard mileage . . . especially if you used a serious 75 (limo or passenger model in limo body).

          When these were built, word had finally gotten to Cadillac engineers that there was this thing called "ground" underneath it, but the notion of relaying this in any way to the occupants was still a couple of years off.

          The drive wasn't so much "cloud", but "sitting on a couch on a cloud as the world passed by."

          (admittedly, an argument could be made for the better build quality of the early 60s, but there prior generation big block *might* notice the load . . .)

          anyway, unless the window seals were worn, you didn't feel much difference in these beasts between 0, 30, 100, and 120 . . . and Cadillac still had distinctly higher build quality.
          hawk

        • I never had my A8 up to quite that speed, but I can tell you that going very fast in one, you still know you're going fast. Mine was considerably older, but it had essentially the same kind of suspension.

          They do have deadass steering feel though

          • This was a 2019 model. It is a car for covering ground quickly with minimal fatigue, so it does look like an unspectacular and unconspicuous choice while at the same time fitting the criteria very well. Sensible choice of a car, entirely different from Cannonball runs.
            It doesn't appeal at all to me of course but then that is not the aim.

        • Agreed. Wake me up when a Mad Hungarian makes the run on a Kawasaki KH400.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Trashman ( 3003 )

      .

      Yes this run was grossly irresponsible, but so is every other Cannonball run. There is no real point in criticizing this run in particular.

      These runs are typically done in the middle of the night when there are very few, if any people on the roads. During a time when the government is ordering people to stay home under threat of a 1k fine, there will be even fewer people. Yes, it's still dangerous but, this was pretty unique scenario where it was the least likely to result in bystanders being hurt or killed.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Type44Q ( 1233630 )

      But driving at an *average* of 103mph on US highways, you endanger yourself and the people around you due to collisions.

      Travelling those [empty, open] highways at ~70mph in a Buick is more than comparable to doing ~120mph in a new and/or well-maintained Quattro.

    • But driving at an *average* of 103mph on US highways, you endanger yourself and the people around you due to collisions.

      Not at all, if there are few cars around a lot of the mid country highways you can easily do 120 MPH+ for hours on end, in safely. The highways are extremely wide, and mostly passing is simply a matter of being in a different lane.

      That gives you more than enough cushion that you can go fast, but dangerously so, through the highway in major cities.

      Someone going well under the limit is actu

    • Yes this run was grossly irresponsible, but so is every other Cannonball run. There is no real point in criticizing this run in particular.

      So are 70% of the drivers I see around in the LA area, who look at their phone as much as they do at the traffic around them. I guarantee those guys in the cannonball run were paying a LOT more attention to traffic around them than the typical self-absorbed phone-addict on the 405...

    • In 1968 I was a passenger in an Opel doing 105 mph on a German autobahn. Faster than most of the traffic, but not unusual. There was no sense of this being a dangerous practice.

      The US Interstates are wide, straight, and mostly in good condition. If traffic is negligible, it is simply not dangerous.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Yes this run was grossly irresponsible, but so is every other Cannonball run. There is no real point in criticizing this run in particular.

      Sure there is.

      Because of COVID-19, police traffic patrols are greatly reduced.

      Half the fun of the cannonball run is evading police. Doing so when police aren't patrolling is basically a handicap and a cheat. I say to count for real instead of having an asterisk on it they should repeat it when this is all over and traffic levels and policing return back to normal.

      Otherwi

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Cederic ( 9623 )

        Because of COVID-19, police traffic patrols are greatly reduced.

        Really? In the UK there are more than normal, and actual roadblocks in some places.

        Which is the police being cunts, and getting rightly slapped for it by the Home Secretary, but nonetheless..

        Half the fun of the cannonball run is evading police.

        Having teams of people across the country monitoring police movements and communications isn't "fun", it's just a planning and coordination exercise. Picking a time when less planning and coordination is needed means more of your time is spent doing the driving.

        That's the fun bit.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          Because of COVID-19, police traffic patrols are greatly reduced.

          Really? In the UK there are more than normal, and actual roadblocks in some places.

          Which is the police being cunts, and getting rightly slapped for it by the Home Secretary, but nonetheless..

          Last I checked, Los Angeles and New York are not in the UK. Granted, the UK has a York, but I'm sure they specifically meant New York.

          Plus, I believe the UK is under a strong lockdown. The US is under a patchwork. Even California, the "lockdown" still has a

  • Purists? Quit your whining (Score:3, Insightful)

    by schwit1 ( 797399 ) on Sunday April 12, 2020 @10:52AM (#59936878)

    This is a feel-good story in a bad time and nobody got hurt. The purists are only mad because someone else had the guts to make it happen.

    There will be no asterisk next to it unless you want to do the same for every driver who finds a new advantage.

  • Hospitals are empty (Score:3)

    by Dan East ( 318230 ) on Sunday April 12, 2020 @10:54AM (#59936890) Journal

    Most hospitals are nearly empty, and laying off staff. Our local hospital is asking employees to volunteer to take 60 days off at 25% pay. Besides some big city hospitals in the COVID-19 hotspots, the majority of hospitals are at record-low census numbers because they have canceled all elective and non-essential screening and procedures. Additionally, COVID-19 cases are not being treated at the vast majority of hospitals - they are being concentrated in designated hospitals where resources are directed. For example, the one case in our county requiring hospitalization was taken directly to a large city hospital over an hour away.

    So as far as potentially placing additional load on the healthcare systems if they had an accident or something, well, that's not actually an issue. Especially since the cannonball run tries to stay in the rural areas to avoid congestion.

    • >So as far as potentially placing additional load on the healthcare systems if they had an accident or something, well, that's not actually an issue. Especially since the cannonball run tries to stay in the rural areas to avoid congestion.

      It's not nearly as big an issue as say eating a Western diet for 50 years. That puts a whole lot more stress on the hospital system.

    • Most hospitals are nearly empty, and laying off staff. Our local hospital is asking employees to volunteer to take 60 days off at 25% pay.

      Don't take that deal. The Feds will give you $600/week for unemployment, on top of your State unemployment (which averages around $380 per week). So on unemployment, you'll make around $4000 per month. Unless you were making $16K+ per month at the hospital - you'll take a pay cut (over unemployment) taking their deal.

    • Re:Hospitals are empty (Score:5, Insightful)

      by hawk ( 1151 ) <hawk@eyry.org> on Sunday April 12, 2020 @06:07PM (#59938404) Journal

      100+mph collisions rarely leave anyone needing a hospital . .

      • A number of people have had over-100-mph collisions in A8s and WALKED AWAY. They are some of the safest cars around. They have a partial space frame, and round crash tubes in front that crumple predictably, to which little is attached besides the front bumper. (The engine isn't mounted to them, but to the subframe, which is connected to the outer frame rails in the unit body.)

        They generally only bother to crash test them a couple of times when they design a new body, and they don't crash test them with ever

  • Well. In 28 hours from Atlanta to Texarkana and back is better challenge and it has noble purpose.

    Now somebody just ran away from zombie apocalypse.

  • let them do it when its open. god you guys just want to kill all the fun in the world.

  • Recklessness (Score:4, Interesting)

    by JBMcB ( 73720 ) on Sunday April 12, 2020 @11:04AM (#59936944)

    This is a reckless act and should not be condoned in any fashion.

    However...

    If you watch the Youtube channels about these people and what preparations they go through and precautions they take, it alleviates some of the ire against them. They aren't doing this on a whim, they take this really seriously. The one team I saw had four members - there's a reason they drive big sedans and not small two-seat sports cars. They drive in shifts, with the passenger and driver both eyeing the road. Usually the passenger has night vision goggles as well. One of the back seat passengers navigates while the fourth sleeps. The navigator also eyes traffic conditions, and when they are going for a record they'll usually have spotters texting in traffic conditions in the more congested areas. The die-hards build their own collision avoidance radar systems. As much as they want to drive fast, they also *really* don't want to get into an accident.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Smart criminals work in teams, make plans, and take precautions. Still criminals.

    • "they also *really* don't want to get into an accident."

      I don't think anyone ever wants to get in an accident. That's why they call them accidents, not on-purposes.

    • You forgot to mention my favorite part....

      They have airplanes that fly ahead watching for speed traps.

  • There's always a few in every crowd that ruin it for the rest of us

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by hawk ( 1151 )

      yeah, these 103 guys ruin things for those of that responsibly drive 95 through rush hour . . . ;)

  • As they are a country wide health risk.

  • You wouldn't want to be hospitalized right now.

  • I mean my amazon order says 3 weeks coming from Cali to NY... these guys would make it here next day....

  • [The record has] allegedly been broken again. The 26 hour, 38 minute time -- which beats the record set in November by more than 45 minutes -- appears to be legitimate

    It's funny that you would use that word, since...

    setting a 'Cannonball' record invariably involves breaking multiple traffic laws."

    There's no possible way to break a 'Cannonball' record legitimately, since by definition, breaking the law requires doing things that are not legitimate.

    • Cannonball has rules, which is to say you can't stop and start the clock and there's defined start and stop points. And you video the run to prove you made it. Just because it's illegal doesn't mean there's no rules.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mark-t ( 151149 )
        I didn't say there weren't rules.... I only pointed out that virtue of requiring breaking the law means that there's no way that breaking a record can genuinely be legitimate, because legitimate entails that something be... you know... legal.

        • https://www.google.com/search?... [google.com]

          You are wrong.

          It means adhering to the law OR RULES.

          And they appear to be adhering to the rules of the Cannonball run.

          I happily agree they do not adhere to the various traffic laws, though, obviously.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by mark-t ( 151149 )

            There are regulations in place that have a greater level of authority than the rules of the 'Cannonball', however.

            So from an objective standpoint, you cannot legitimately break a Cannonball record unless you first dissolve all of the applicable traffic laws that must be broken to achieve it.

  • 103 mph AVE. That's going to be hard to beat for a long time.

    Whoever buys the Audi A8, has a piece of history and a rebuild on his used-up engine

    • The engines in the A8 tend to last and last. Even the first generation A8 Quattro with 4.2 V8 had a top speed of 178, and the engines generally lasted over 200k without unscheduled maintenance. The transmissions, on the other hand...

      The engine was designed fairly well, with only some seal problems in the oil cooler and in first-generation models, problems with unreliable ignition components which were solved by the second generation (and you can fairly easily swap those parts over with only some adapter pla

  • Of course, I'm appalled, but I have a hemi Charger Pursuit, and I work IT for a nationwide chain of nursing homes, so I'm thinking hard about my summer vacation plans.
  • A friend drove non-stop (except to gas up and take bio-breaks) from CA to IL when he got out of the service in the mid-70s. I guess he was glad to be a civilian again. He claimed he made the drive in just over 24 hours partly by drafting semis on the interstates doing 70-80 and this was without the roads being clear from fewer people on the roads.
  • 30mph over the posted speed limit is a felony in many states. Typical penalties involve jail time, license suspension, and fines. I hope each state makes an example of these people, who seemingly feel the laws do not apply to them.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DanDD ( 1857066 )

      You know, if enough voters lobby their representatives, states could abolish speed limits. People don't always conform to laws. Sometimes people conform laws to what society really wants.

      Besides, going slower isn't always safer:
      https://www.motorists.org/pres... [motorists.org]

      • In some states in Australia, younger drivers must drive BELOW the speed limit (e.g, they are limited to 80km/h even if the pisted limit is 100). This leads to other drivers making unsafe passing manoeuvers to get sroumd the younger driver. OK, so the older driver should know better, but the net effect of the slower driver is still to create unsafe conditions.

        • Uh, as an Australian who had P plates back in the day when 80kmh was my limit, what states STILL do this antiquated limit?

          Because I suspect the answer is 'none'.

          A quick use of a popular internet search engine reveals that I may be wrong, who knew?

          Well, there we go, Australia still has mobile speed humps in some states (seems to be largely the states in the bottom right).

  • I would have been a lot more impressed if they had also, *at the same time*, developed, prototyped and conducted phase 1 clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine...especially with all the room in the spacious A8 sedan they used.

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