CNN.com – Police thwart ‘Cannonball Run’ – Sep 14, 2004
MADRID, Spain (Reuters) — Spanish police temporarily seized luxury and sports cars driven by people they suspected of participating in an illegal road rally named after a 1981 film starring Burt Reynolds, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
Obviously, CNN has no gearheads in its editorial staff. “…named after a …film starring Burt Reynolds”? Please. Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Brock Yates, and his creation, the Cannonball Run:
In the early 1970s, Brock Yates, senior editor of Car and Driver Magazine, created the now infamous Cannonball Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash; a flat out, no-holds-barred race from New York City to Redondo Beach, California.
Huh, named after a movie starring Burt Reynolds. Well, he needs to send a bonus to his publicist. Next they’ll report on NASCAR being modeled after a movie called Stroker Ace.
Don’t get your history from the movies, kids.
