When the Cannonball Run Went Legit | Coming Soon to an Issue Near You

Colin
By Colin Wood
Mar 15, 2021 | One Lap of America, Coming Soon

Photography Credit: Dan Burns

In 1984, the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash went legit, and changed its name to the One Lap America. What was it like to be at the very first One Lap?

Thankfully, we didn’t need to drag out the time machine, as Steven Cole Smith was there. In the upcoming May issue of Grassroots Motorsports, he recounts those very first One Lap of Americas—Chrysler minivans and all.

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Comments
mazdeuce - Seth
mazdeuce - Seth Mod Squad
3/11/21 11:35 a.m.

Looking forward to this article. Not sure we need OLOA to be even MORE popular so it's even harder to get a spot, but whatever, OLOA is cool. 

jharry3
jharry3 GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
3/11/21 2:06 p.m.

Car and Driver Magazine always covered this happening. 

 They were fairly libertarian back then and loved writing about "sticking it to the man".    

Then there was Gumball Rally when the 427 Cobra out ran the helicopter.  ;-) 

Placemotorsports
Placemotorsports GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
3/11/21 2:08 p.m.

I just want the GLHS

Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter)
Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
3/11/21 2:19 p.m.
jharry3 said:

Car and Driver Magazine always covered this happening. 

 They were fairly libertarian back then and loved writing about "sticking it to the man".    

Stands to reason, since One Lap and the Cannonball were both Brock Yates' babies. Wasn't C&D a title sponsor of the event for a while, too?

David S. Wallens
David S. Wallens Editorial Director
3/11/21 3:14 p.m.

Yup, C/D supported One Lap BITD.

And it's a cool story--hope you all enjoy it. Sarah is pasting it up right now. For art, we had to go old school. 

Datsun310Guy
Datsun310Guy MegaDork
3/11/21 4:22 p.m.

We watched Ford V Ferrari and the wife enjoyed learning about C Shelby.  

After the movie was over I explained to her some about him hot rodding the Omni into the GLHS......

She asks - you said Dodge Omni?  It was cool?  Really? Omni?

Yup - (I sounded weak)

mazdeuce - Seth
mazdeuce - Seth Mod Squad
3/11/21 4:46 p.m.

My OLOA story starts because I had a friend from about 6th grade through the end of high school that was close enough that I could ride my bike over to his house. His dad was a car guy and a long time subscriber to C&D and those magazines were all over the house as well and as coming new every month. I bet I started reading about in in 1987 or 88. It stayed with me. 

03Panther
03Panther SuperDork
3/12/21 3:23 a.m.
Datsun310Guy said:

We watched Ford V Ferrari and the wife enjoyed learning about C Shelby.  

After the movie was over I explained to her some about him hot rodding the Omni into the GLHS......

She asks - you said Dodge Omni?  It was cool?  Really? Omni?

Yup - (I sounded weak)

After the GLHS out accelerated and out handled one of the contemporary Ferrari's, Carrol himself was quoted "Yea, but a E36 M3 box, is still a E36 M3 box..."

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
3/12/21 9:35 a.m.

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

The Detroit area offices of C&D used to be at 2002 Hogback Rd Ann Arbor, MI (easy to remember address, devil) which is an office park right off the major hyw, US 23.  I used to travel this area often in the late 80's and 90's.  I would often just pass through their parking lot to see what's new.  Their back parking lot was always filled with manufacturer plates on the latest things they were writing about.  It was always cool to see something in that lot before it was even available.  

Back in those years, C&D was KING.  I remember as a pre-driving kid, maybe 13, buying the magazines off the newstand.  

CrustyRedXpress
CrustyRedXpress GRM+ Memberand Reader
3/12/21 7:53 p.m.

Really looking forward to this-love SCS and still have a copy of the book that Yates put together about the first few Cannonball runs.

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