Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash - Legacy

Legacy

More than thirty years after the last official Cannonball, the issues raised, and the possibility of a full or partial revival, are still of interest to some motorists. Yates, in his book, recalled declining offers ever since the last race to revive the concept, and gave a number of reasons it was unworkable, including increased police activity, increased legal liabilities on the part of any organizer, increased year-round traffic and expanding urban areas – as well as warning of the obvious dangers of a race on public roads. The Gumball 3000 gained publicity in the early 2000s as a similar event, sometimes held on coast-to-coast American routes, but paced over several times as long and with no time-based winner. As reported in the New York Times on October 17, 2007, the current unofficial record is 31 hours and 4 minutes, set by Alexander Roy and David Maher in 2006. See also the article in Wired Magazine.

The 2008 documentary 32 Hours 7 Minutes documents the 1983 and 2006 record-setting runs.

While not a coast-to-coast event, The Bandit Run is a similar road marathon held yearly since 2007, when it marked the 30th anniversary of the film Smokey and the Bandit (produced by Hal Needham and starring Burt Reynolds, who would both make the first Cannonball Run movie four years later).