The Cannonball Run!

Growing up in a house with four brothers, I am very familiar with football, boxing, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and the Cannonball Run. We always had dreams of being able to travel the country by car (just a little bitty bit slooower than the people in the race, however). Someday I expect we shall.

I just found out that the Cannonball Run is not called the Cannonball Run anymore! It’s now called the One Lap of America! I rather liked the Cannonball Run name, but I guess in this day and age of highway speeding and etc, they had to change the name. “Cannonball” didn’t quite support the concept of safety driving, did it?

For all you traveling and race fans, there are some really cool things going on this year for the 2008 One Lap of America. A “smart” car! The kids and I flipped when we saw it! Isn’t it adorable?! we want one, we want one! I’m a sucker for those kinds of cars. I’d get one if all six of us could squeeze into it…

Here’s the scoop about this gorgeous car and the race:

The Tire Rack 2008, One Lap of America (formerly named Cannonball Run), will celebrate its 25th anniversary race around the United States and Stephen Noton along with his 451 smart fortwo will be apart of this historic race.

The smart has only been on sale for a couple months in the USA and Canada but it has already sparked some amazing interest from all types of car enthusiasts. While most people see the smart as an economical form of transportation Stephen Noton is showing that a smart can also be a very cool and fun car to drive.

Stephen Noton says “The smart is like a Ferrari, it is a 2 seater, rear wheel drive, rear mounted engine European exotic and it even beats the Ferrari in one performance metric, MPG”. That is very true and with some vehicles in the One Lap of America averaging less then 10mpg the smart at 41mpg might even have an advantage during the 4,000 mile event.

Here’s the map. The route looks so good.

The car is nicknamed “forfiveone” and already has a following at it’s website. The car has been modified with “racing springs, wider tires and some nice interior enhancements.” I would love to watch this car in action, live. But I’ll have to settle for broadcasting. If you want to go see the race, entrance to most of the tracks is free!