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[62]Coronavirus

'Cannonball' coast-to-coast drive record set amid virus shutdown

The team is said to have used a late model Audi A8 L to make the run in
26 hours, 38 minutes, beating a record of 27 hours, 25 minutes set late
last year.
Atlanta car enthusiast Ed Bolian, who set a record in 2013 by reaching
speeds of up to 158 mph in his coast-to-coast "Cannonball Run."
Atlanta car enthusiast Ed Bolian, who set a record in 2013 by reaching
speeds of up to 158 mph in his coast-to-coast "Cannonball Run."
April 12, 2020, 1:11 AM UTC
By Dennis Romero

The tradition of dangerous, [63]coast-to-coast driving record attempts
has its most visible roots in the 1970s' Cannonball Baker
Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, presented as a drunken,
fraternizing party on loud, colorful wheels in the 1981 comedy
"Cannonball Run."

A team of three anonymous people is believed to have taken the sport to
the other extreme by using a relatively low-profile, unmarked,
family-size sedan and taking advantage of freeways emptied by the
coronavirus. They set what is believed to be a new transcontinental
record of 26 hours, 38 minutes.

Not everyone is impressed.
[64][nn_09bwi_race_131031.jpg]

[65]Atlanta driver wins Cannonball Run

Nov. 1, 201300:50

Alex Roy, host of the [66]No Parking Podcast and 2006 transcontinental
record holder, says the latest run, reported to have taken place April
4 but which was [67]revealed only in recent days, was irresponsible
given the intent of stay-at-home orders across the country to stop the
spread of [68]coronavirus.

"These things are always irresponsible," Roy said. "The consequences
now are very different. Any other time if one arrives safely, no harm,
no foul — in theory. Morally questionable? For sure.

"A run now brings with it the unknown," he continued. "Did I touch a
fuel pump, [69]did I transmit the virus, did I contribute to the
problem in an immeasurable way? Once you enter into the zone of doing
such a thing today, one can never know if you can say no harm, no
foul."

Related

[70]tech

[71]tech[72]Google Street View race clocks in at 90 hours

Atlanta car enthusiast Ed Bolian, who says he has seen documentation of
the run and has therefore become the main source of news for the new
record claim, says another asterisk for the coast-to-coast drive is
that it was done amid an unprecedented lack of traffic. Is that fair?

"It certainly counts," he says. "It’s not as though they didn’t do it.
Does that remain the mark to beat for the future pursuit of
cannonballing?"

[73]https://www.instagram.com/p/B-wz9qThtuP

Bolian, who [74]set a record in 2013 by reaching speeds of up to 158
mph in a 2004 Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG, said in [75]a March 24 video on
his Vinwiki YouTube channel that the national shutdown would be "the
perfect time to go out and try to set the Cannonball record."

He said Saturday that multiple teams have attempted to set a new record
amid stay-at-home orders.

Nearly a month before the Chinese government acknowledged the virus in
late December, a trio in a 2015 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG sedan [76]set the
last record, this one going from the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan to
the Portofino Hotel in Redondo Beach, California, which is the
traditional Cannonball start and finish, in 27 hours, 25 minutes.

Related

[77]Tech

[78]Tech[79]YouTube thrives as a window for the isolated

Arne Toman, Doug Tabbutt and Berkeley Chadwick appeared to borrow a
page from Bolian by using a relatively plain-Jane vehicle. They also
used GPS devices, radios, scanners, binoculars, custom gas tanks and an
array of volunteer "spotters" to avoid unnecessary police or refueling
stops.

The latest record was made in another "sleeper," a 2019 Audi A8 L,
Bolian said. No stripes and no stickers for this car, he said.

"The days of flashy sports cars are probably gone with '80s," Bolian
said.

He said he knows the members of the crew, but they want to remain
anonymous for fear of being ostracized.

"Everybody understands if you became known for an attempt in this
climate you would become the poster child for violating stay-in-place
in orders," he said.
Dennis Romero

Dennis Romero writes for NBC News and is based in Los Angeles.

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