The legend begins with Erwin George Baker. Baker was born in Indiana in 1882. Throughout the 1930s, he became an extremely popular motorcycle and automobile race driver. Cannonball BakerAmong the many accomplishments in his prestigious career; he won the first ever race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909, placed 11th in the 1922 Indianapolis 500 and became the first commissioner of NASCAR. However, he gained his greatest notoriety in 1915 after a New York to Los Angeles drive which took 11 days and 7 hours. It was this intercontinental drive that earned him the nickname “Cannonball” after the famous Illinois Central railway car, “The Cannonball”. In 1933 he would make the cross country trek again, but this time, he’d do it in only 53 hours and 30 minutes, a record that would stand for almost 40 years. “Cannonball” Baker would pass away in 1960 as one of the most revered and popular automobile and motorcycle drivers of all time. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

Brock YatesFast forward to 1968. Brock Yates is an executive editor for Car & Driver magazine. He writes a scathing article called “The Grosse Pointe Myopians”, which critiques the auto industry, its management and its products which makes him infamous within the auto industry. Then, in 1971, Yates, along with fellow Car & Driver editor Steve Smith, decides to create an unofficial, and illegal, intercontinental road race. Inspired by the travel records of Erwin “Cannonball” Baker, the race begins in New York and ends in Redondo Beach, CA. Officially dubbed the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, the race would serve as a celebration of the US national highway system and also a protest of the soon-to-be passed 55mph speed limit. Yates wanted to prove that careful drivers can safely navigate this country’s interstate system at high speeds in much the same way the Germans do with the Autobahn. Yates also believed that if Erwin Baker could complete the journey in a record time of 53 hours and 30 minutes over unfinished roads and horrible conditions, then a modern driver should have no problem doing it over the uninterrupted expanse of the national interstate system.

The successor race, One Lap of America, is greatly tamed from the Cannonball. The racing his held on closed circuits. But it's still very grueling. I know a few people who've done it. It's on my "one of these years" list ...

Idiots or not, Brock listens to the One Lappers and starting in 1992 put the Cannonball One Lap of America on the format it uses today: Nearly twenty-four hours a day driving with competition taking place as time trials on race tracks throughout the country. The event, as it always has been, is foremost one of endurance and vehicle preparation. No support crews are allowed. The tires that are used on the street are the same ones that are raced on (one set per team). Although scoring is based on performance at the race tracks, the vehicles and their drivers must survive over 5000 miles of driving interspersed with the finest meals available at gas station convenience stores. Personal hygeine takes a holiday and friendships (sometimes marriages) are stretched to the limits as these competitors battle fatigue, weather, traffic and the demands of high-speed competition with both unknown amateurs and seasoned professional drivers like Parnelli Jones, Price Cobb, John Buffum, Elliot Forbes Robinson and Hurley Haywood.

What does it take to run in the Tire Rack Car and Driver Cannonball One Lap of America? A car of course (and there's a competition class to fit every automobile). The entry fee ($2500). A minimum of two drivers who have each had some racing experience (and/or two drivers' schools). And, the willingness to confirm your parents' suspicion that there was always something wrong with you.

it sounded like your kind of "one lap" thing. one would have to arm wrestle JL for shotgun.
- bill 11-03-2009 7:28 pm [add a comment]

Grueling.

9 days
8 race tracks + 1 test track
Wisconsin, Jersey, Oklahoma, and parts in between.
- mark 11-03-2009 7:29 pm [add a comment]

Yes. That's where I got the name. The intent was to do my own "one lap" visiting tracks along the way. I was underprepared, and have a better idea of how to do such a thing now.

On my 2010 tentative calendar is an event in Texas and another in Wisconsin. Towing or transport will be involved, because the car I would use is just too brutal on the street. But I have another car that could be suitable for a "one lap" style expedition. It's very streetable, and could probably stand for a little stiffening of the suspension.

The race car feels harsh on race tracks, which are smoother than the smoothest highway you could dream of. The streetable car is modeled after Top Gear's Reasonably Priced Car.
- mark 11-03-2009 7:46 pm [add a comment]