Illegal Racer Claims New Cannonball Run Coast-To-Coast Record
It was fast, efficient and highly illegal.
Chris Stowell has claimed a solo speed record for driving coast-to-coast that’s colloquially as The Cannonball Run.
Stowell completed the trip from New York City’s Red Ball Garage to the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, Calif., in 27 hours and 16 minutes.
The feat is based on an outlaw race that was held several times in the 1970s, which many people have tried to recreate with individual attempts. “The Cannonball Run” comedy film of 1981 was inspired by the events.
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Stowell recounted his drive with the VINWiki YouTube channel, which is run by a former overall record holder. He used a 2015 BMW 535d diesel that was tuned for added horsepower and equipped with a fuel cell to increase its range. Stowell made a previous attempt in 2023, but was thwarted by a blown tire.
Data confirming the record shows that he averaged 105 mph while getting 23 mpg, which cut the number of fuel stops required to complete the 2,800-mile trip, which started at 2 a.m. on an undisclosed date to avoid New York area traffic. He hit a top speed of 151 mph on the El Cajon pass in California.
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Stowell’s time was not only a solo record, but also a record for diesel vehicles and would have been the all-time record before the Covid-19 pandemic. During the lockdowns in 2021 a pair of drivers took advantage of the historically empty roads to complete the journey in 25 hours and 39 minutes, which would take around 41 hours at legal speeds.
