Barstow
to Vegas with bullrun.com
Remember the movie Cannonball
Run, about a coast to coast race from NY to LA on public
highways?
Well, what would it be like to find yourself smack in the middle
of such a race? That's exactly what happened to me on July 23,
2005. I was driving from Fresno, CA to Las Vegas, NV. I had just
left Barstow, CA, on I 15 when I noticed a helicopter hovering
over the highway. I thought it might be the cops running an
overhead speed trap and so I slowed down to about 75.
A few miles later, I see this BMW 7 series with some graphics on
it, come up in my rear view real fast. As it gets close, I see
that hot on its tail is a Ferrari F40. I've got the Camry rental
car cranked up to 80 and they go by me like I'm molasses in
winter. They are working the traffic like wildmen.
A few minutes later, comes a string of upscale SUVs, and
Mercedes and a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, all with graphics
(numbers on the side and various sponsorship graphics). As they
blow by me, I noticed the www.bullrun.com
on the back bumper. At about that same time, the chopper I had
seen earlier goes by on the left at about 300 feet, moving right
with with them.
It all dawns on me then. This is a modern day, Cannonball Run.
As we drive on, various other entries go by, and we enjoy the
show.
We eventually stop in Baker, CA, for something to eat. We decide
on Burger King and when we pull into the lot, there sits a Lime
greem Lamborgini with the www.bullrun.com graphics on the back.
The driver is just coming out of Burger King. I know he's the
driver cause he's wearing racing boots. We go in and eat lunch
and as I'm eating, it finally dawns on me that I should be
taking some pics, but I figure every chance I had is gone.
When we come out of Burger King, the Lambo is gone but as we are
pulling out of the parking lot to head back out to I15, the
Lambo blows by headed the same way I am, so I stomp the Camry
and do everything I can to catch him (fortunately he wasn't in a
hurry) and I was able to get a little closer and snap this pic.
A few minutes later, back on I15, another car goes by and we
snap a pic of it. I didn't know what this car is, Jon Krieger, who runs in much faster circles than I, identified it as a Bentley. This guy was cruising about 85 or 90 (I was
doing 80 and he just eased past) and was the last Bullrun entry
we saw.
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