REVISITED: America’s most illegal record was obliterated in 2020

We're looking back through some of our most-viewed content throughout the year, and it turns out you couldn't get enough of this one! Kick back and relive one of the standouts from a tumultuous 2020.

All the pearl-clutching about the morality of performing a Cannonball Run during a global pandemic seems to have been for nothing, with Ed Bolian reporting America’s most illegal record has been beaten seven times in the span of just five weeks.

According to Bolian, who has been in contact with the new record holders, the time to beat is now less than 26 hours. A sub 28-hour Cannonball Run was once unthinkable.

While he has not disclosed the exact time, that frame of reference means the drivers would have had to achieve an average speed of at least 173km/h for the 4507km journey.

Accommodating for fuel stops, the team’s peak and cruising speeds are probably far in excess of that figure.

Bolian states that the new record holders averaged 193km/h when crossing “several” States. It is unknown what car the new record holders used.

What is known is that they were well prepared, with over 30 spotters littered across the country, along with a heavily modified vehicle.

According to Bolian, its not just the outright record that has been broken, with the solo-driver, diesel-powered, and coast-to-coast-to-coast Cannonball records all tumbling – the last of which having almost 20 hours shaved off the previous record time.

This new flurry of record attempts follows a team of drivers who took advantage of empty roads that had been created by the coronavirus lockdown to set a cross-country time of 26 hours and 38 minutes.

This unknown team used an Audi A8 for the record, with large marine fuel tanks strapped into the boot.

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The Cannonball Run is a simple, and highly illegal, record that despite having no governing body, is infamous within car culture.

Bolian is a former competitor, record holder, and now somewhat of a defacto adjudicator on the record.

To set a Cannonball Run record, you must traditionally start at the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan, then traverse the entire United States of America as fast as possible to finish at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California.

Modern technology, and ultra-prepared teams, have resulted in the record falling to unthinkable levels in recent years, with teams maintaining crazy speeds on public roads to secure their place in motoring infamy.

The new record holders are reported to be preparing a documentary to accompany their official record announcement.