Some Guy Just Set The World Record For Fastest Ever Cross Country Drive And People Are NOT Happy About It
Source - The tradition of dangerous, 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.
From the Road and Track:
Alright first things first: LA to New York in roughly twenty seven hours is FAST. Like really, really, really fast. Given the trip is roughly 2800 miles, they would have had to have averaged 104mph to make that time. Which according to sources, they did. Obviously that speed wasn't consistent, but they could definitely make up time when they needed to given the fact that they were in a $100,000 A8.
Having said that, people in the driving community were not happy. Specifically Alex Roy, the last lunatic to break the record in 2006. According to him, he would have rather they wait until the roads were crowded to try and break the record...
Alex Roy, host of the No Parking Podcast and 2006 transcontinental record holder, says the latest run, reported to have taken place April 4 but which was revealed only in recent days, was irresponsible given the intent of stay-at-home orders across the country to stop the spread of 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, 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."
Seems like he's just a sore loser to me. Should they have done it? Absolutely not, but if you've done the same thing, you can't tell them not to. Especially considering you were weaving in and out of traffic when you did yours. Other "enthusiasts" were equally upset.
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?
Bolian, who set a record in 2013 by reaching speeds of up to 158 mph in a 2004 Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG, said in 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.
And on and on it goes…Ed is right though, it's not fair. But like Alex, he's not understanding who it's not fair to- regular Americans whose communities they drive through. Whatever. These people are idiots. Get a normal hobby.
This whole story reminds me of the Gumball 3000 from 2006 when Bam Margera and Ryan Dunn raced across Europe in Bam's Lamborghini. I attached that video below. Happy Easter.