Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash

The Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, widely known as the Cannonball Baker or Cannonball Run, was an unofficial, unsanctioned automobile race run five times in the 1970s from New York City and Darien, Connecticut, on the East Coast of the United States to the Portofino InnNow (as of January 2021) called the Portofino Hotel, the building is located at 260 Portofino Way, Redondo Beach, CA 90277, in the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach, California. The Cannonball Run races have additionally inspired numerous contemporary efforts by independent teams to set the record time for the route, known as the Cannonball Run Challenge. The races were named after Erwin Baker.

Conceived by car magazine writer and auto racer Brock Yates and fellow Car and Driver editor Steve Smith, the first run was not a competitive race as only one team was running. The run was intended both as a celebration of the United States Interstate Highway System and as a protest against strict traffic laws coming into effect at the time. Another motivation was the fun involved, which showed in the tongue-in-cheek reports in Car and Driver and other auto publications worldwide. The initial cross-country run was made by Yates; his son, Brock Yates Jr.; Steve Smith; and friend Jim Williams beginning on May 3, 1971, in a 1971 Dodge Custom Sportsman van called the "Moon Trash II".Brock Yates,

The race was run four more times: November 15, 1971;Brock Yates, November 13, 1972;Brock Yates, April 23, 1975;Brock Yates, and April 1, 1979.Brock Yates,

Car and Driver magazine detailed the November 1971 running in its March 1972 issue. That article was reprinted to represent the 1970s on the magazine's 50th anniversary in 2005. A remarkable effort was made by American racing legend Dan Gurney, winner of the 1967 24 hours of Le Mans. He won the second Cannonball in a Sunoco blue Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona. Gurney said, "At no time did we exceed ." He and Brock Yates as co-driver took 35 hours 54 minutes to travel at an average of approximately while collecting one fine. Snow in the Rocky Mountains slowed them down considerably.Brock Yates,

In 1972 the team of Steve "Yogi" Behr, Bill Canfield, and Fred Olds won in a Cadillac Coupe de Ville, the first American car to win a Cannonball.Brock Yates,

On April 23–25, 1975, Jack May and Rick Cline drove a Dino 246 GTS from the Red Ball Garage in New York CityThe Red Ball Garage is located at 142 E 31st St, New York, NY 10016, in a record time of 35 hours 53 minutes, averaging .

The record for official Cannonballs is 32 hours 51 minutes (about ), set in the final run from Darien, Connecticut, to Los Angeles by Dave Heinz and Dave Yarborough in a Jaguar XJ-S in April 1979.

After the original Cannonball races, Car and Driver sponsored legitimate closed-course tours, the One Lap of America. Outlaw successors in the United States, Europe, and Australia continue to use the Cannonball name without Yates' approval.

The race The object of the Cannonball was to leave the Red Ball Garage on East 31st Street in Manhattan, New York City (1979: Darien, Connecticut, at the now-defunct Lock, Stock, and Barrel restaurant, Goodwives Shopping CenterThe fabulously named Goodwives Shopping Center at 25 Old Kings Hwy N, Darien, CT 06820 is described on owner Urstadt Biddle Properties' website .), typically after midnight, and drive to the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California, in the shortest time possible. Those were the only rules.Brock Yates,

Nothing was specified as to the route, type of vehicle, number of drivers or crew, or maximum speed permitted. There was a gentlemen's agreement that the vehicle entered would be driven the entire distance (not transported on another vehicle, not abandoned for an identical second vehicle hidden near the finish, etc.) Speeding citations received along the way were the driver's responsibility and did not disqualify the vehicle, although stopping to receive a ticket increased the vehicle's overall time.

The Cannonball Run was technically a race in that the team with the fastest time was declared the "winner" and the results were announced in order of time. However, times were not taken very seriously, and sheer speed did not guarantee a first-place finish.Brock Yates,

Inspiration The Cannonball Run gained notoriety after the 1972 run, but the Time story on the 1975 Jack May-Rick Cline race solidified its place in the public consciousness. To the surprise of many, the hilarious reports in Car and Driver were warmly received by press and public alike rather than condemned for the race's recklessness.

In his Cannonball! memoir, Yates reports that in 1972 an all-female team of Peggy Niemcek, Judy Stropus, and SCCA racer Donna Mae Mims ("The Pink Lady") suffered a crash near El Paso, Texas, resulting in a DNF (did not finish). Mims explains that their Cadillac stretch limousine veered off the road and rolled over after the driver fell asleep at the wheel. Although the car was destroyed and she suffered a broken arm, no other vehicles were involved in the crash. This was the only serious accident in the official Cannonball races.Brock Yates,

Yates began working on a screenplay to be entitled Coast to Coast but was scooped by two "unofficial" films in 1976, Cannonball and The Gumball Rally. Eventually, an "official" Cannonball Run film was made, The Cannonball Run starring Burt Reynolds, Roger Moore and Dom DeLuise with Yates in a cameo appearance. Two sequels, Cannonball Run II and Speed Zone, also known as Cannonball Fever, followed. A later USA Network television program, Cannonball Run 2001, was given official approval to use the name.

U.S. Express

After the last Cannonball, Rick Doherty, a veteran of the 1975 and 1979 races, organized a successor, the U.S. Express (1980–1983). The 1980 U.S. Express ran from Brooklyn, New York, to the beach in Santa Monica. Doherty won the first U.S. Express with co-driver and famous game designer Will Wright at the wheel of a Mazda RX-7. Their time was 33 hours 9 minutes."Sims Designer Had the Wright Stuff for Street Racing Way Back When", wired.com; accessed March 21, 2016.

In 1981 the U.S. Express ran from Long Island, New York, to Emeryville, California, which borders Oakland at the east end of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge). Interstate 80 was largely the route of choice. The winning team in 1981 was the first-time Express team of David Morse and Steve Clausman driving Morse's gray Porsche 928. One unique road hazard in the 1981 run was an early snowfall that closed the Donner Pass for several hours to vehicles without chains just as the U.S. Express cars approached. The Porsche 928, which carried special plastic chains, was able to proceed. Others had to wait for the pass to open. The Morse-Clausman team competed again the next two years. In 1982 (also to Emeryville), they endured several memorable police stops. In the final U.S. Express in 1983 to Newport Beach, California, they placed second.

Although longer than the Cannonball, the fastest time recorded for the U.S. Express was 32 hours 7 minutes in the 1983 race, 44 minutes faster than the fastest Cannonball, and the "official" cross-country record until it was broken in 2006 by Alex Roy and David Maher in 31 hours 4 minutes."The Pedal-to-the-Metal, Totally Illegal, Cross-Country Sprint for Glory", wired.com; accessed December 9th, 2019.

Legacy

Decades after the last official Cannonball in 1979, issues raised and revival possibilities interested some motorists. Yates recalled declining offers to revive the concept because it was unworkable. His reasons included: increased police activity, increased legal liabilities for any organizer, increased year-round traffic, and expanding urban areas. He also warned of the obvious dangers of a race on public roads.Brock Yates,

The Gumball 3000 gained publicity in the early 2000s as a similar event, sometimes held on coast-to-coast U.S. routes, but paced over a route several times as long and with no time-based winner.

The unofficial transcontinental record, known as the Cannonball Run Challenge, has been broken numerous times since the last official Cannonball Trophy Dash.

Post–US-Express Events

C2C Express Event

The C2C Express was an organized event that was created by Ben Wilson of New Zealand and Eric Propst of Michigan. The event was intended to be limited to pre 1980 automobiles that cost under $3000. This was intended to keep the cost affordable and in the spirit of the original runs of the 1970s. The event spanned from 2015 to 2019. The run Ran from the traditional Cannonball Route of Redball Garage in Manhattan to The Portofino Inn at Redondo beach California. The original event only had 3 competitors in which Wilson won in his Cadillac with a time of just under 40 hours. Over the next 3 years the event grew to the point that the final coast to coast run planned ballooned to over 40 entrants. The size of the event gave Wilson and Propst the idea to run their final coast to coast event from Darien, Connecticut to Portofino Inn located in Los Angeles. Darien to Portofino was the same route run as the 1979 Cannonball and became a 40-year anniversary tribute to the event. Over 40 teams registered for the event, 33 competed and 24 finished. Amongst the final event was a team of police officers in a 49 Pontiac, an ambulance driven by John Ficarra, a Lexus driven by record holder Ed Bolian, a vintage Monte Carlo piloted by current record holders Doug Tabbut & Arne Toman. Wilson and Propst both competed as well, Wilson drove a Ford Van and Propst a Crown Victoria. The winning time was 31:47.

Michael A. Preston Memorial Four Ball Rally 1982–1984 The Four Ball Rally was an outlaw street race from Boston to San Diego. It was run from 1982 to 1984, and stands as the last of the true competitive cross-continent road races held in the twentieth century. The rally's official name was the Michael A. Preston Memorial Four Ball Rally (FBR) in commemoration of its founder, who died prior to the first event. The FBR was conceived to be the longest practical distance race between two major cities in the continental United States. The rally had multiple route options determined by the driving teams and generally exceed 3,100 miles. On average the race was 250 to 300 miles longer than the original Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash rallies of the 1970s. Up to 50 entries, including international teams, were selected to participate. The event was "invitation only", and generally was restricted to professional drivers and others with documented driving experience. The race started at the Oster Chevrolet garage on Gardner Street in Boston Massachusetts and finished at the Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel in San Diego California.

1982 Four Ball Rally: