New ‘Cannonball Run’ Record Set With 27 hour, 25-Minute Cross-Country Drive

Although it can’t legally be recorded as a record, unofficially this team completely blew the past “record” for the Cannonball Run out of the water. They drove across the USA in 27 hours and 25 minutes.

Cross country racers Arne Toman and Doug Tabutt headed up the team responsible for the record. They met up with spotter Berkely Chadwick and left New York City just after midnight on November 10 in a modified 2015 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG (although badging was removed). The car was tuned to 700 hp and a fuel cell in the tank for extended range was installed.

The two set out to break the previous record of 28 hours 50 minutes set by Ed Bolian, Dave Black and Dan Huang in 2013.

The average speed for their trip was 103 mph with a top speed of 193 mph. How is that possible? Toman added a variety of electronic law enforcement countermeasures. These included radar detectors, laser jammers, police scanner, and a thermal imaging camera mounted to a gimbal on the roof to look for police cars roadside. They also had the help of the app, Waze, and 18 scout vehicles at various points along the way to check for speed traps, traffic, etc.

They followed the “northern route” along I-80, I-76, I-70, and I-15 for most of the 2,825 miles.

“Anyone who’s done it realizes how safely it can be done,” Toman said. “We’re not passing on the shoulder. You try not to negatively affect anybody on the road. Drawing attention just gets you called into the police.”