A group of friends drove cross-country from New York to Los Angeles in just 28 hours. INSIDE EDITION has their story.
It was a shocking record breaking cross-country drive, a crazy cannonball run from New York to Los Angeles that took just 28 hours!
Ed Bolian said he was inspired by watching the 1981 Burt Reynolds movie The Cannonball Run.
He told INSIDE EDITION, “It took me nearly 10 years to think about how to do this safely and effectively."
Bolian is a sales director for Lamborghini in Atlanta, but he actually chose a hooked-up Mercedes for the controversial journey.
He installed two extra gas tanks in the trunk and many high-tech gadgets like GPS units, iPads and three radar detectors to help evade the police.
Bolian and two cohorts started out from this parking garage in Manhattan at 9:55pm on Saturday night, October 19th. They hit a snag right away with a traffic jam, 15 minutes later, they were racing through New Jersey at break-neck speed.
They drove through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana in just seven hours. Their average speed was 100 mph. At times, they went an insane 158mph and not once were they stopped for speeding.
With the extra gas tanks, they could drive for 800 miles without stopping.
They continued west through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Sunday night, at 11:45 p.m., they reached the Portofino hotel in Redondo Beach, California.
Their epic 2,800 mile drive took 28 hours and 50 minutes, shattering the previous semi-official record of just over 31 hours.
Bolian said, “Its the holy grail of American automotive culture.”
But Bolian may not be celebrating for long. He broke the speed limit in 11 states and could face prosecution in all 11.
Some are calling his cross country joy ride down right dumb.
“Average of 98mph, huh? Good for him. Now lock him up!,” said one outraged commentator.
“They should actually be in jail for reckless driving,” wrote another.
Bolian said, “We did understand that we were breaking the law and that can go with this territory, but, we did so in a way to try and minimize all the risks we could."
Even with the backlash, Bolian says he's proud he pulled off cannonball 2013.
