A New ‘Cannonball Run’ Record from New York to LA, Averaging 103 mph

 

The Cannonball Run’s record was broken by over an hour recently. The total time was 27 hours, 25 minutes and 7 seconds. They averaged 103 mph. What a great article! I recommend it highly.

For 2,825.3 miles, the trio dodged highway patrol officers, avoided roadside deer and roared through 13 states in 27 hours and 25 minutes. They crushed the previous record by nearly an hour and a half.

And they didn’t get pulled over once — except for after the run, on their way to celebrate with a late-night meal.

“Every cop I know saw the story of the record and said ‘Aw man, that’s so awesome,'” Doug Tabbutt told The Washington Post on Friday.

On Nov. 10, Toman, Tabbutt and Berkeley Chadwick started their souped-up, silver Mercedes just before 1 a.m., at the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan. Their destination: the Portofino Hotel in Redondo Beach, which is the customary finish for the illicit Cannonball Run challenge.

The record run, first reported by Road and Track, was a combination of skill, preparation, experience and luck, Tabbutt and Toman explained. They chose a day in November ahead of Thanksgiving so the highways were relatively clear. It didn’t rain. There wasn’t construction to bottleneck traffic. And Tabbutt’s hundreds of hours of planning ensured the route was optimized.

With 11 runs between them, both drivers acknowledged they broke traffic laws in every state, and some of the gear they used was lawful in some but illegal in others.

Read the whole thing.

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  1. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    I’d love to hear from Doug Watt or other current or former law enforcement member about if they had ever come across one of these racers, and what they did or would do.

    Not connected to the Cannonball Run, but this happened down the road apiece from me a few years ago.

    https://jalopnik.com/nats-jayson-werth-sentenced-to-10-days-in-jail-for-spee-1667342436

    • #31
  2. PHCheese Inactive
    PHCheese
    @PHCheese

    I lived in Pittsburgh and went for several years to college just south of Erie PA. I was home for a holiday but had made a date with a beautiful girl for the night before classes resumed. I don’t remember the exact time that that it took me. I got a late start. I was driving a 1964 Pontiac GTO.  Interstate 79 was not entirely completed yet so some of the trip was on old route 19. I stopped and picked up a hitchhiker as I was leaving Pittsburgh. I noticed him getting nervous at about 110 mph. He was going to Erie but he jumped out at a red light at Mercer Pa. He thanked me but said I was crazy. It was about a 90 mile trip . I was only a few minutes late. My memory is I maded it in just under an hour. Sort of a BB Ball Run.

    • #32
  3. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    You know, it sounds to me like the winners could be charged with speeding.

    • #33
  4. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    I’d love to hear from Doug Watt or other current or former law enforcement member about if they had ever come across one of these racers, and what they did or would do.

    Not connected to the Cannonball Run, but this happened down the road apiece from me a few years ago.

    https://jalopnik.com/nats-jayson-werth-sentenced-to-10-days-in-jail-for-spee-1667342436

    He was driving a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, those things are technically parked if they are doing under 80 mph

    • #34
  5. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio…
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Stad (View Comment):

    You know, it sounds to me like the winners could be charged with speeding.

    More like reckless driving, I think.

    Perhaps I’m getting old, but this strikes me as very dangerous to the innocent.  Death Race 2000 territory.

    • #35
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