Thursday 10th October 2019

The Secret Race Across America | Time for Tea

New film seeks to document the definitely not secret history of transcontinental racing in the US

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"This is a story about people who race from one side of America to the other as fast as they can," says Ice T - and that about covers the narrative arc of Apex: The Secret Race Across America, a feature documentary set for release later this month.

The film plots the recent history of what it calls the illegal, underground world of American transcontinental racing - although practically everyone who has ever been involved with the scene has proven remarkably adept at self-publicising their endeavours regardless of the consequences. Not least Alex Roy, who took it upon himself to break the decades old Cannonball record in 2006.

Apex explores that 31hr run at length, which ought to make for interesting viewing - not least for the intensive planning that went into its staging (much like a heist movie, it is the cop-dodging groundwork which can be relied upon to serve up all the intrigue).

Don't expect the film to go more than ankle-deep into the ethics of law-breaking for the hell of it - but do expect some hair-raising archive footage and larger-than-life characters, particularly if Apex has tracked down the participants of the seventies era 'Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash', which even managed to lure Le Mans-winner Dan Gurney into a Ferrari Daytona for the second running.

"At no time did we exceed 175mph", Gurney is said to have quipped. Those were the days.

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[wab172uk]

Cool. Will be a good watch that.

Makes me want to watch the Cannonball run now !

[Captain Benzo]

alex made a film a few years ago which was never officially released called 32hours 07minutes. I have a copy somewhere and its a good watch. his book 'the driver' is a good read, covers his transcontinental run.

I'll give this a watch when it comes out.

[Mafffew]

Looks like it is from the same people who made "Story of the Hypercar" which was a pretty good watch (can be found on Netflix).

[g3org3y]

Captain Benzo said:

alex made a film a few years ago which was never officially released called 32hours 07minutes. I have a copy somewhere and its a good watch. his book 'the driver' is a good read, covers his transcontinental run.

I'll give this a watch when it comes out.

Yep, defo worth a read.

E39 M5 - good car.

[Stussy]

His film 32hrs... is excellent, I wanted an M5 soooo much after watching it.
The Driver is a very good read too

[Shakermaker]

Is this the guy who's record was then beaten by Richard Rawlings from Fast & Loud?

even so, suspect I'll enjoy watching this when it comes to Sky Movies next year

[Truckosaurus]

Is the Apex film not a re-edit of the '32 Hours' film?

I've read Roy's 'The Driver' book, it is an entertaining read but he does go a bit overboard positioning the people taking part in the early 21st century Gumballs etc as skilled pilots rather than people willing to flout the law.

[alorotom]

This does sound like a formal refit of 32hr 7min which is a great docu-film but rough around the edges.

[RobJK]

Cannonball! by Brock Yates.
Really good book almost where is started.
Erwin G. "Cannon Ball" Baker is the daddy of it all.

[PistonBroker]

Awesome, look forward to it.

I read Alex's book a while back and it was fantastic. As said, the prep that goes into these runs is something else.

I hadn't discovered Fast 'n Loud when I read it, so it tickled me when it occurred to me that RR was someone I'd already read about.

[loudlashadjuster]

Not quite the same distance, but worth a shout out to this thread for a recent JOGLE attempt in the same vein.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[pits]

Vinwiki, Ed Bolian and Alex Roy cover a lot of it, good one here from Alex about the car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXJY06QYGjo

This is one of the best, breaking the American Express algorithm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkZNddd9Pxc


ETA: Ed I believe still holds the current record of 28 hrs or so

[Arsecati]

I went coast-to-coast on my own in March 97 in a 94 Honda Accord 'driveaway' in 49 hours and 15 minutes - on my own: San Jose to NYC, a total of 3024 miles. It wasn't a race or anything, I was just trying to get to Manhattan for St. Patrick's Day, but once I got going, I was like a man possessed and couldn't stop (thus getting there a couple of days earlier than originally planned!). Stopped to sleep twice, only for 2 hours each time, and actually did a full 22 hours straight stint during the middle section, only stopping to pee and refuel with petrol (gas) and 'Big Gulps' of Coke. Just the one speeding ticket in Nevada - though I was lucky to get away with the speed he caught me at, as I actually came up BEHIND the cop car while driving maxed out, trying to slow down from 130+mph once I noticed the lights on the roof (he booked me at 88mph!). Ahhh, what happy memories they were!

[unsprung]

loudlashadjuster said:

Not quite the same distance, but worth a shout out to this thread for a recent JOGLE attempt in the same vein.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

thanks for that link

If, on the other hand, one would want to race the same distance... Google Maps says that John O'Groats to Ankara, Turkey is approximately the distance of New York City to Los Angeles.

[Mickyturbo]

Captain Benzo said:

alex made a film a few years ago which was never officially released called 32hours 07minutes. I have a copy somewhere and its a good watch. his book 'the driver' is a good read, covers his transcontinental run.

I'll give this a watch when it comes out.

The film 32 hours 7 minutes was made by Cory Welles.She sat in the backseat and filmed the run Alex made going coast to coast.I have it on DVD and its a great documentary,very enjoyable to watch.This film appears to be the same film,but maybe more polished around the edges.
Richard Rawlings from Gas Monkey garage also went coast to coast with his mate Denis Collins,however they took longer than Alex Roy.

[ZX10R NIN]

Looks interesting.

[Celtic Dragon]

Just found 32 hours 07 mins on Vimeo so just watched it, I’ve got a copy of Alex’s book and enjoyed it, if this is as good then it will be a good watch.

Does anyone know if the Audi R8 Blackbird had a crack at Alex’s time?

[Megaflow]

Mickyturbo said:

Captain Benzo said:

alex made a film a few years ago which was never officially released called 32hours 07minutes. I have a copy somewhere and its a good watch. his book 'the driver' is a good read, covers his transcontinental run.

I'll give this a watch when it comes out.

The film 32 hours 7 minutes was made by Cory Welles.She sat in the backseat and filmed the run Alex made going coast to coast.I have it on DVD and its a great documentary,very enjoyable to watch.This film appears to be the same film,but maybe more polished around the edges.
Richard Rawlings from Gas Monkey garage also went coast to coast with his mate Denis Collins,however they took longer than Alex Roy.

Is it still available anywhere?

[DanielSan]

Shakermaker said:

Is this the guy who's record was then beaten by Richard Rawlings from Fast & Loud?

even so, suspect I'll enjoy watching this when it comes to Sky Movies next year

I think it was the Cannonball record that they broke, as part of the Cannonball Rally rather than a solo run.

[RDMcG]

Have done a ton of very long distance runs in the US but never set out to do a timed end-to-end run. Not unheard of to reach the speeds mentioned.