Cannonball Record Broken During Coronavirus - 26 Hours 38 Minutes
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Cannonball Record Broken During Coronavirus - 26 Hours 38 Minutes:
Only a few months have passed since we reported that the New York-to-Los Angeles Cannonball record was broken. It's allegedly been broken again. The 26 hour, 38 minute time-which beats the record set in November by more than 45 minutes-appears to be legitimate, according to Ed Bolian, a Cannonball insider and driver who set his own 28 hour, 50 minute record in 2013. Alex Roy, who set the first modern NYC-to-LA record in 2006, also said the new claim is credible based on his analysis of multiple sources.
"It was not me," Bolian was quick to point out to Road & Track, eager to quell an Internet-generated rumor that perhaps he had been the one to pull it off.
[...] All we know about this new set of scofflaws is that there were three, maybe four of them, and that they were driving a white 2019 Audi A8 sedan with a pair of red plastic marine fuel tanks ratchet-strapped into its trunk. They started at the Red Ball Garage in New York City at 11:15 pm on April 4, and ended less than 27 hours later at the Portofino Hotel & Marina in Redondo Beach, California, the traditional start and end points of a Cannonball attempt.
We also know that their timing was awful. It doesn't seem likely that the new record-holders were keen to have news reach the public so soon, especially at a time when so many people are understandably on edge. But an exuberant friend posted a picture of the Audi on Facebook this week-situated among a number of other high-dollar cars, with its trunk open to show the auxiliary fuel tanks-along with the team's alleged time. Within a day, hundreds of people had shared the post, and social media chat groups were abuzz with Cannonball aficionados offering up opinions on the matter. (The Facebook post has since been removed; it's reproduced here via screengrab.)
"Do I think this is the best use of time while the country is staying in during a pandemic?" Bolian asked in an interview with R&T. "Probably not, but for me to say it's awful is like a cocaine dealer saying a heroin dealer is awful."
Also at NYTimes
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