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.


Targa Newfoundland is another event that I think about sometimes.
- mark 11-03-2009 7:19 pm





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