HughesWeek

Friday, August 04, 2006

The Cannonball Run: Don't Call it a Come-Back!

With the recent major successes of the Gumball 3000 and Bullrun rallies gaining attention faster than Mel Gibson at a bar mitzvah, the original coast-to-coast car race is making a comeback! After a 27 year break, Brock Yates the originator of the Cannonball Run is attempting to bring it back in spring 2007. The first Cannonball was completed in May 1971. The race was named after cross-country record-setting automobile racer Erwin George “Cannon Ball” Baker. It was a meant to be a protest against the then-recently imposed 55 mph speed limit. Yates was trying to prove “that good drivers, in good automobiles, could employ the American interstate system the same way the Germans were using their autobahns”.

The difference between the Cannonball; and the Gumball 3000 and Bullrun is simple. The Cannonball is a true race; go like hell and get to the other coast the fastest and you win. The Gumball 3000 and Bullrun are rallies, not races. Rich kids and celebrities spend a week driving by day and parting by night in exotic locations (i.e. Playboy Mansion, Castles, Las Vegas Suites etc) across the states (Bullrun) and around the world (Gumball 3000). Get out your Burt Reynolds mustache and load up the fake Ambulance with a crazy doctor!

Extra: The best time ever set driving coast-to-coast was in 1983 in the US Express race. 32 hours and 7 minutes!

Check out these great links:
http://www.gumball3000.com/flash/flash.html Checkout the Films in the Gumball TV section!
www.32hours7minutes.com/ Be sure to check out the upcoming Movie Trailer!
http://www.bullrun.com/showGallery.php?contentGalleryID=72 Check out the video clips!

Cannonball Run Times
1. May 1971
Fastest time: 40 hours, 51 minutes
Average speed of winner: 70 mph
Cars: 1
2. November 1971
Fastest time: 35 hours, 54 minutes
Average speed of winner: 80 mph
Cars: 8
3. November 1972
Fastest time: 37 hours, 16 minutes
Average speed of winner: 78 mph
Cars: 33
4. April 1975
Fastest time: 35 hours, 53 minutes
Average speed of winner: 81 mph
Cars: 18
5. April 1979
Fastest time: 32 hours, 51 minutes
Cars: 46

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posted by Matt Hughes at 11:07 AM

3 Comments:

  • Sweet! I just watched the movie again on Sunday. Love Burt.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8/09/2006 4:06 PM  

  • Part One or Two? And to think the likes of Shirley MacLaine and Frank Sinatra, among other respectable actors, are actually in these movies, only makes it more fun to laugh at. Even Jackie Chan, Dean Martin, this list goes on and on...

    By Blogger Matt Hughes, at 8/25/2006 1:57 PM  

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