All language subtitles for APEX.The.Secret.Race.Across.America.2019.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG

WILL WRIGHT: The thing about
driving and racing

is the fact that you've got this incredible

kind of interface between
a person and the machine.

And, you know, a lot of times,
we clearly put

this boundary around us--
you know, this is me,

and these are my tools,
my technologies, my machines.

But when you're driving--
or racing, especially--

um, that boundary blurs,
and you become one.

You know, you stop thinking
about your body entirely,

and you think of the car
as your body.

I was always fascinated by
the ability of the human mind

to kind of mesh with a machine
like that, to that level.

And achieve that level
of kind of almost transparent,

unconscious interface.

I've never raced a plane before.

PAUL WEISMANN [over radio]:
I got the road in sight.

Look for those
two white stripes, babies.

This is the tricky part.
We knew it would be.

GOODRICH:
T. Mazel, this is Nueve Actual.

Are you reading? Over.

WEISMANN:
We have you in sight.

We're overhead.

Roy, I don't know.
Punch it, Chewy.

WEISMANN: We got nothing
in sight right now.

GOODRICH:
Copy that.

ROY:
Ask Paul...

if there's any cops
at the tollbooths.

Mazel, you see any, uh, fuzz
at the tollbooth coming up?

WEISMANN: Very limited traffic
at the toll plaza.

I'd say, uh, two cars,
three cars deep.

-Thank you.
-Wow, this is fantastic,

-the spotter plane.
-[radio buzzing]

GOODRICH: All right, well,
pick a... the best lane and...

take that one.

ROY:
We could've just gone

right through it,
but that's so illegal.

-No, you don't want to do that.
-[indistinct chatter over radio]

Say again?

WEISMANN: Let me know
when you're through the tolls.

Will do.

-Do I... do we have to talk?
-Here.

-How much is it?
-$3.50.

Hello.

Thank you.

Are there a lot
of police up here?

Thanks. Have a nice day.

I'm sorry.

Car all right?

[engine whirring]

Car's having a problem, huh?

WEISMANN:
Are you through the tolls?

Yeah, I see you slow, uh...

Uh, you're pulling over
altogether now, I see.

You guys on the shoulder?

I'm sitting here, engine off.

-What do you recommend?
-Thanks, man.

WEISMANN: I don't know
how... what's the...

what the average, uh,

drops for every minute
they're stationary,

but for every minute
they're stationary,

they have to go
180 miles an hour to match 90.

Which obviously
isn't gonna happen.

Put the car in a flatbed,
fly home. That's what I'd do.

Tell you what,
Alex must be devastated.

I'm really sorry, guys.

RICK DOHERTY: So, we seem
to have a-a head count so far.

Uh, we've lost two team entrants
to, uh, uh, a broken ankle

and a broken foot.

We've gotten reports
from two broken cars so far

and one possible
broken marriage.

This is a very
competitive event.

We're in it for enjoying
the American highway.

We're in it for, uh...
for proving that we can

do something
in time-speed-distance.

Of course, there is
a national speed limit

of 55 miles an hour.

[laughter]

The-the first year
we organized the Express,

we had some high-powered
Italian, German,

American machinery.

I really can't recommend
to anybody that you, uh,

exceed the-the national
speed limit on this.

[laughter]

♪

♪

♪

ICE-T: This is a story
about people who race

from one side of America
to the other

as fast as they can.

They were all inspired by one
man with a proper nickname.

In 1933,

racing driver and motorcyclist
"Cannon Ball" Baker

drove coast-to-coast
in 53 hours,

a record that stood
for four decades.

And then Brock Yates showed up.

It's 1971.

Yates is a writer
forCar and Driver magazine.

Yates wants to prove
good drivers can use

America's brand-new
Interstate Highway System

the way Germans use
their Autobahn

for long-distance travel
at high speeds.

He plans an event,

calls it the Cannonball Baker
Sea-To-Shining-Sea

Memorial Trophy Dash,

a combination speed run,
endurance test

and long-ass road trip.

Racers show up
with crazy solutions

to the cross-country challenge.

Cannon Ball's antics
inspire a movie.

But the 1979 run was
the last Cannonball ever.

The end of the Cannonball
does not mean

coast-to-coast time trials
are over.

In 1980, the nerds show up,
and they're serious.

DOHERTY:
I-I do want to have everybody

have as little contact

with-with John Q. Law
as possible

while staging
this 55-mile-an-hour event.

ICE-T:
This is Rick Doherty.

He's a Cannonball veteran.

To him, Cannonball had become
kind of a circus,

attracting the wrong
sort of attention.

Doherty puts a small classified ad inAutoweek magazine.

The response catches him
by surprise

and sparks the U.S. Express.

STEVE STANDER:
We ran the Cannonball

under an assumed name:
U.S. Express.

Well, you call it
what you want.

We were the last
of the Cannonballers.

By the time you got
to the U.S. Express,

it was only
the hardest-core people.

There was the most technology,
everyone had a fuel cell,

all the drivers were nuts.

Three, two, one, drive!

[tires screeching]

DAVID DIEM:
It was invitation-only.

Secret starting point,
secret finishing point.

Moves each year.

No rules, fastest guy wins.

Going from one coast
to the other as fast as you can.

No ifs, ands or buts about it.

STANDER: If one person
leaked the information,

you'd compromise the event.

The last thing you want to do
is publicize it.

There's 30-odd cars going out

at 100-plus miles an hour
from New York

with a 55-mile-an-hour
speed limit.

MAN: You think anybody's gonna
suspect this is a race car?

They probably will.

It's not something
the FBI tracked

until theCannonball Run movies
came out.

No one took all the puzzle
pieces and put it together.

[indistinct chatter]

It was a quiet event.

It was not publicized,
by design.

ICE-T: Unlike the Cannonball, the U.S. Express is top secret.

And it's all business.

To these guys, it's a race.

And a race is meant to be won.

On the first U.S. Express
run in 1980,

Doherty and his codriver,

video game designer
Will Wright,

set a coast-to-coast time
in 33 hours, nine minutes.

It's almost three hours quicker than Yates did it

with Dan Gurney
a decade earlier,

and more than 20 hours quicker

than Cannon Ball Baker's
best time.

QUARTIERE:
Like a bunch of bandits

trying to accomplish something
that, um,

is frowned upon
by most individuals

and law-minded citizens.

JOSH VIETZE: It's just an interesting story,

to know that-that
there's crazy people out there

who want to do things
like this.

And it... and it sort of...

it exists in this bubble
of the '80s.

WOMAN: That guy's got
his pedal to the metal. [laughs]

VIETZE:
Secret, illegal,

underground race
from coast-to-cast,

what could be more pointless?

What could be more dangerous?
Lots of people know

what Cannonball Run,the...
you know, the movie, is, um,

but-but what actually went on
in this cross-country race,

people don't know,
and it's nuts.

What the fuck
were these people thinking?

MAN: He says they're gonna
nail you again.

-DRIVER: That's what
I'm afraid of.-MAN: Yeah.

MAN: This could be
an ugly trip, you know?

NEWSMAN:
Yes, Bruce, you spotted

a few stragglers
from that race coming in.

BRUCE: We had one car at Orange County doing 100-plus

with the highway patrol behind
him in, quote, "pursuit."

ICE-T: Then in 1983,
Doug Turner and David Diem,

averaging 89 miles per hour
in a Ferrari 308--

most of the time spent
above 125 miles per hour--

chopped the record down
to 32 hours, seven minutes.

And that record stands
for more than 20 years.

The U.S. Express
was so secretive,

only insiders knew
how the times were validated.

And even they had their doubts.

Some of the other racers
wondered

if Diem and Turner's time
was legit.

Or if somehow they'd faked it.

Are you aware that you just
broke the record?

-Is that right?
-Yeah.

NEWSWOMAN: These two gentlemen
were certainly

vulnerable all the way
across the country,

but they made it through.

Two madcap drivers, Doug Turner and partner David Diem,

crossed the Newport Beach
finish line early today

in the fourth annual
U.S. Express,

formerly known
as the Cannonball Run.

32 hours and seven minutes,

-a new record.
-[crowd whooping]

BOBBY UNSER: To go
from New York to California

[laughing]: in-in 32 hours,
it's unbelievable.

You know how fast you have to go
to average 89 miles an hour?

I mean, most people don't
understand how they did it.

The first time,
we just didn't realize

how fast you had to drive.

And you had to drive
as fast as you could every...

every time you had
an opportunity to drive fast.

And, uh, that made
the big change.

DIEM:
We decided, the second year,

you know, we had three speeds.

About 143 miles an hour

is-is the speed we determined
that we could run

without raising
the oil temperature.

55 miles an hour,
which was the speed limit,

when that was necessary,
and stop for the five times

that we stopped to fuel.

MAN:
What were you averaging?

We-we averaged,
uh, 89.897, I think.

-That's right.
-[both laugh]

We spent a lot of time

at 125 or greater

but averaged 90 miles an hour.

The idea that 32:07
was possible in '83,

to a lot of people,

was unfathomable.

DOHERTY:
There were members, um,

who'd been involved
with the race

for more than one year
who thought that

that's an amazing time--
they must have

gotten onto
an airplane or something.

People have some...
some trouble separating,

"Did it really happen?
Is it true?"

JARLSON:
Some people have said,

"Well, could it be
run again today,

in today's culture?"

I don't know.

Will we ever know
if someone's running it?

ICE-T: In the 2000s,
coast-to-coast rallying

found new life
as celebrity road trips.

More about champagne
and Lamborghinis

than breaking records.

And the entry lists often
included the name Alex Roy,

an entrepreneur
and New York scene setter.

Alex was a rally fanatic

and even had a brush with fame on a reality TV show in Europe.

But privately, Alex Roy had
one thing on his mind.

He wanted to break the
coast-to-coast driving record.

He not only wanted to prove

Diem and Turner's time
was legit;

he wanted to beat it.

How do you define Alex Roy?

Okay.

When I first met Alex,

he was still in his

Gumball phase.

Which is where he was taking
the established

party rally-- Gumball-- uh,

very seriously in terms
of the navigation,

the driving, the outfits,
the police car.

The whole schtick.
He was deep in that.

At a certain point, you realize

that those events are childish

and, in some ways,
very dangerous,

because you have reckless
people doing reckless things

to impress each other.

Alex was that percentage
of people

who wanted something that was
much more serious.

Alex is, uh... is eccentric,

uh, and Alex is a...
in many ways a philosopher.

He thinks about things
that most of my other friends

are not thinking about
with any kind of regularity.

ROY: Someone is going
to break 32:07 someday.

And, uh, you know,
I-I would love to know

if there's someone else
out there

who's actually thinking about it

as hard as I am,
because I have every intention

of breaking it someday.

But first, we have to figure out
if what Diem/Turner said

is true about how they did it.

And I don't think it is true.

I think they did 32:07,
but I don't think

they did it the way
they said they did.

My theory about Diem/Turner
is that

the fuel-economy figures
for their car

and their fuel cell
don't match up

with 5h fuel stops,

using a 140-55-zero strategy.

My theory is that they were
cruising in the high 90s

pretty much the whole time.

The speed strategy is,
it sounds sexier,

but that's not
what this is about.

Diem/Turner did it, I think,
two or three times

before they set 32:07.

So, uh... and I've never
done it this way.

Anyone who gets in a car
unprepared, tries to do this,

is out of their minds.

I wouldn't expect to beat them

unless I'd done it
at least twice.

Being in the car right now
with everything functional

and fixed is one of the best
feelings in the world.

I don't know if I've ever felt
this prepared,

certainly from
a technical standpoint.

I'm not concerned about safety,
'cause I know

we're really safe drivers.

I'm concerned about, uh,
getting arrested

by that cop
who's having a bad day

and who really wants to stick it
to the two New Yorkers

in the car full of equipment.

ICE-T: For Alex,
there was no better car

for the transcontinental run
than the BMW M5.

With a five-liter,
400-horsepower V-8,

it was fast.

A top speed
of 155 miles an hour

could be pushed to 190
with just a software upgrade.

With the suspension tuned
for Germany's Autobahn,

the M5 would hold up
under hours

of triple-digit speeds.

And Alex upgraded the brakes,
shocks and clutch

to handle the extra punishment.

For Alex, the BMW was
a good place to start.

For one, it was stealthy.

From the outside, it looked just like any other blue sedan.

To that blank canvas,
Alex added his intel gear.

Three large antennas
on the trunk

and one on the roof.

One for a police scanner,
one for a CB,

and one for
a ground-to-air radio

that would let Alex talk to
the pilot of a spotter plane.

Two white stripes on the roof

would let the pilot see
the BMW from 2,000 feet above.

The real difference is inside.

GPS navigation units,
police scanners,

radar detectors, night vision,

and enough cameras to document
the run as it happens.

And a 16-gallon fuel cell.

[engine revving]

FARAH:
Alex chose the M5

for what I think are very
honest, practical reasons.

It was, uh, the fastest
performance sedan at the time.

ROY: Awesome.
Let's see what we got here.

Yeah, you want...
Let me start from the top first.

MAN: So these are...
these are all parts.

-ROY: Got it.
-Dead reckoning cable, antennas,

antennas, antennas, antennas,
antennas, antennas.

This is the big-labor number
right here.

It's, conservatively,
a hundred hours.

ROY: Yeah, that looks
pretty stealthy. I feel okay.

I mean, it's definitely less
conspicuous than a red Ferrari.

It's definitely less conspicuous
than most of the cars

that did the U.S. Express.

I mean, today,
you could have multiple apps

running at the same time

that tell you where
the police are along your route.

They didn't have
any of that then.

Police along the route?

That was part of a spreadsheet
that Alex had put together,

that he or some poor kid
from New Jersey that he hired,

uh, had scouted out
painstakingly

along the route
that he was driving.

This book represents our bible,
and in the front,

for reference sake, is
the reckless endangerment laws

for every state
in the United States.

California's the most
lenient state in the union,

God bless them.

North of a hundred
is reckless endangerment.

You never want to be going

north of a hundred,
or get nicked for it,

in any of these states,
especially these

truly conservative states,

'cause they will
take you down to the precinct.

So, you're talking about,
you know, going to jail

or getting accused of a felony.

ROY:
There's a 0.4.

Police, mobile unit.

That's a police car
in the borough of Allendale.

Our route is in yellow.
Allendale is here.

Therefore,
that frequency is not for us.

This must be done 1,000 times.

-Yeah, I told you, it's a
fucking nightmare. -Oh, my God.

That's why I've been having
such a hard time,

or I would have already done it.
"Ohio Turnpike,

most heavily patrolled highway
in the United States."

Truckers call it Radar Alley.

ROY: You know, of course,
the danger is,

if we put every speed trap
from speedtrap.org into the GPS

and we slow for every single one

and there's no cop at some
of those, we lose time.

DOHERTY: We're using a larger
garage right now in Manhattan,

and we will not have to get the
cars in as early as 3:00 p.m.

We're gonna get around to the,
uh, selection of departure times

in just a moment, and policy
in the past has shown that, uh,

most people tend to crowd around
the very earliest time to leave,

7:00 p.m.,
or the-the last car out time,

which is 10:00 p.m.
tomorrow night.

You'll have to put us
on channel, uh,

whatever it is news tonight.

Wait till the end of the race.
See you.

DOHERTY: I do want to have
everybody have

as little contact with-with
John Q. Law as possible

while staging
this 55-mile-an-hour event.

We're going to be asking you
to give that pass in to Anne.

She will be putting
a number on that.

We will be drawing from a hat,
and the order

those come out in will be your
driver selection depart times.

Now, everybody has
their vehicle pass?

♪

Hi. I'm Michaelene Donati,
and we're bringing to you today

a sample of America's
love affair with racing.

We're here at the starting
point of the U.S. Express,

one of the most daring races

in the United States.

That looks good.

DONATI:
Tell me, what motivates you?

What inside drives you
to do this?

I mean, are you...
are you possessed?

-Is that a serious question?
-Very.

Well, I'm crazy.
I don't know what his excuse is.

MAN: He just drags me
along, and I go.

You know, I don't know.
I'm easily led astray, I guess.

DONATI: What motivates you?
What is that,

in the middle of you,
that makes you want to race?

A fear of underpaid
airline pilots.

DONATI: A five-time entry
of the Miss U.S. Express.

-Can we do that one over?
-[laughter]

-Thank you.
-I'm not...

I meant-- it's the U.S. Express,
not "Miss."

Why would anybody do it twice?

-It's speed.
-I like to go fast.

It's nice to go cross-country.

I have a new codriver
because Jon,

uh, decided
he didn't want to go.

And, uh, I wouldn't want
to drive with anyone,

especially a friend,

who deep down inside
didn't absolutely have to go.

I have to.

Maher, he wants to go.

And the instant I even hinted
at what we were doing,

you could see it in his face.

And that's exactly what I want.

To me, Alex is more involved,

as everybody knows, in the
planning and the preparation

and what goes
into the-the pre-race stuff,

like, all the technology
and-and the other stuff,

the intangibles that,
you know...

He'll go out and look into what
the weather's gonna be like

and-and all that stuff,
which for me, like...

weather is only something
that's gonna slow me down.

Uh, but he-he prepares
for all that.

VIETZE:
I think any...

any successful duo

n-needs to complement
each other.

Um, they seem like
an odd couple.

Who are these two guys?

Are they friends?

Why are they doing this
together?

They weren't there to, uh...
to go on a long drive together.

They're there 'cause their
skills complement each other

and they're there to win.

I respect him for everything
he is and, um...

and that I'm not, and I think
it-it works both ways there.

I loved it that he called on me
to do, uh... do the final run.

I knew he had other options.

Um, the fact
that he called on me was...

You know, he told me,
he was like,

"I want you to think
about it for a night."

It didn't take me
to get from when he asked me

to his front door
before I said yes.

"Press plastic collar firmly
onto body, high end in front.

[laughing]: "Urinate or vomit
directly into the bag.

"Wait until liquid turns
into biodegradable gel.

-Dispose of the bag in a waste
receptacle." -This is the best.

MAN: That's the
international symbol for:

"The whole family's got to go."

Uh, Graeber, your storm chaser
suggestion has proven

to be very wise, as we're
passing through in storm season,

and I've researched, uh,
with JF, storm chaser cars.

We are amazingly equipped,

identical to the storm chaser
cars-- identical.

So I've procured some amateur
storm chaser club stickers,

hats, uh, throw pillows

-for-for Cory...
-[laughs]

-Throw pillows?
-[laughter]

And I've... and also, I...

Maher and I believe
we should not have to lie,

so I've labeled the... all the
GPS units, uh, Storm 1, Sky 1-2,

uh, Airspeed 3,
and so if we're pulled over,

I don't think we need
to actually say anything.

I think they'll just look
inside, and I think one of us

should say, "Can you believe
that storm front?"

-And then look, and then...
-[chuckling]

I'm not joking. I really
feel strongly about it.

ROY:
Yeah.

This is where we're taking off.

My best friend, Paul Weismann,
he's flying that plane.

Not for money.
He's flying it for me.

To have someone like that
in the plane,

not a gun for hire,
but someone that close,

with Keith Baskett,
another very good friend,

is a huge confidence builder.

-I imagine the white is best.
-What do you hear

-about the weather?
-Well, that's a problem.

-[chuckling]
-Where's the... where's the...

I think you should open it up
as often as you can.

-BASKETT: Right.
-If there's a problem,

-we'll let you know.
-Okay.

ROY:
Well, my question is,

cops usually hit with radar

anywhere from a quarter mile
to half a mile.

-So we can see that far?
-That's easy.

We want you to go
as fast as possible.

140-plus is... would be
a good cruising speed.

-You'll have to.
-[laughter]

Fuck.

Uh, the night we go...
this is-is, uh partly cloudy,

isolated storms,
20%, 30% likelihood,

which is the same as last time.

Maybe ten percent worse,
but I'm not worried about it.

32.07 is here at 88.9 average.

-Okay, I-I know this average,
but, um... -Right.

...you had, like,
a breakdown on...

I think on there, from the GPS

with, like,
the speeds you're doing.

-Oh, you want... Yeah.
-Um...

Yeah, like,
I'm looking for, like,

extended periods where you're...

There weren't many
extended periods like that.

It would be, like,
there would be a good period,

like a... like three minutes,
then slow down to 90,

-then speed up,
then slow down to 90. -Right.

Um, there's very...
it's very rare

to run above a hundred
for more than a minute or two.

Unless there's a big open
stretch in Texas, for example.

I plan on changing that.

♪

DOHERTY:
We know that the zero hour

is coming up.

Um, we know that, uh,

some of us have been awake
before the race

longer than we should have.

Sleep the day before the run.

Trying to get some rest

and failing miserably,

how am I gonna stay up
for 30 hours?

DOHERTY: Those of us who had
been through it beforehand

were more jittery than those

who were there
for a first time.

We were all concerned
that we all get out quickly

but not so quickly
that we create a problem

for those behind us.
It was adrenaline pumping.

Just incredible to be

in all the company
of these people

and to know
that we were all headed

toward a...
toward a common goal and had

such amazingly clever

and different ideas
of how to get there.

-DONATI: Hi. What's your name?
-David Diem.

-And where are you from?
-Newport Beach, California.

-What's your name?
-Doug Turner.

And are you part of
the same team, or are you...

-Certainly am.
-Tell me,

what kind of car do you have?

We're driving a 308 Ferrari.

Anything special about it
you want to tell people

-that you've been working on?
-[both chuckling]

-DONATI: Everything. [chuckles]
-Just a stock 308.

VIETZE: In a group
of people getting together

to compete against each other
for anything,

there's always those few people who show up

who are a little bit more
serious than everyone else,

who are a little bit
more competitive,

and in this case,
I think there were, uh...

there were some...
some participants

who took that to another level.

DIEM: Ferrari made
a really durable car,

and we did all the things
to make sure that the car

would be as good to us as, uh,

you know, we were trying
to be to it.

We knew that two-thirds
of the race

was at night,
so we needed, uh, to light up

more road than the typical
headlights would,

so we took four ten-inch Hellas and mounted them

under the front bumper
so we could light up

almost a mile of road.

We turn on the lights
in New York,

we can see California,
and then we just...

-[laughter]
-...just drive straight there.

ICE-T: The drivers
of the U.S. Express

decked out their cars
with 007-type gear.

Radar jammers,
night vision goggles

and kill switches
for their brake lights.

They had
communication headsets,

police scanners and CB radios.

They spent months
strategizing their routes.

U.S. Express racers
were on a mission.

It was like their own cold war
against the highway patrol.

There were a few rules.
There were a few guidelines.

They were primarily
on the safety side.

Where are our drivers?
Can I see some hands? Drivers?

-Yeah!
-Are we here?

Are we not? Where are we?

Go and check the exact
tread depth on every vehicle.

But we, uh...
we discounted people

who said they weren't prepared
to come with a machine

that was at
some equal proportion

to their driving skills.

We put a lot of effort
into safety.

It sounds like an oxymoron.

But we did.

You had the right tires,
you had the right cars,

you had the cars
prepped a certain way.

Maybe not the exhaust
of my RX-7

as it got red hot
and caught fire.

DOHERTY:
Uh, you generally had,

uh, attention to, uh...
to electronics.

This is before cell phones,
this is before GPS systems,

so you basically had to make
the most of,

uh, knowing where you were.

And that meant citizens band,

and it meant a really good
citizens band system,

radar detectors--
and I mean multiple

because you had front and rear.

You ran a second year,
you said, "Wow,

"I better have two
radar detectors in the front

in case one goes on me."

Um, wiring all this
stuff together

meant you either were
very good at electronics

or had friends or a craft shop
that could integrate it.

Uh, police scanners were, uh...

were legal in most states
but not all.

QUARTIERE:
And do everything from add

extra fuel cells, so you had

far more gasoline.

Doug and Dave, you just have

to look at the car
they were driving.

It was designed
to be refueled quickly,

two pumps at the same time.

Throw the attendant a $50 bill
and just bug out.

Who cares?
"I don't want the change."

They had night vision scopes

so they could see.

The lighting that gave them

3,500 feet down the road
so they could see.

DIEM: We learned
the first year that, uh,

it was hard to communicate
with each other,

so we built a cockpit
communication system.

We built some, uh,
cockpit switches

so we could turn
the taillights off.

-Right. Yeah.
-Turn the brake lights off.

JARLSON: And that's how dedicated and serious they were

about winning this thing.

There-there was no lark
involved here.

This was a race,
and that's where

they were different
than the Cannonball guys.

DOHERTY:
You're kind of feeling like

it's a, uh, space mission.

We know that the zero hour
is coming up.

You're-you're counting
all of your, uh...

uh, your food nibbling
and water resources

and water elimination
resources.

Your heart is pounding.

-JF.
-Uh, so the storm has...

[continues indistinctly]

It's increased to 80%.

All right. Gina?

We're gonna get more lights
turned on.

-Yes. You are?
-Yes. Can we turn 'em all on?

She's gonna turn on
all the floodlights.

STANDER:
Did you get tickets?

-'Cause we got two warnings.
-Five tickets...

-Oh, five tickets!
-...and two warnings, yeah.

It takes a lot to win, you know?

Sometimes you got to sacrifice
your honor. [chuckles]

[both laugh]

MICHAEL DiGONIS:
It's, uh, almost amusing

to spend $150,000

on a car and equipment
and prep work,

so that you can see
if you can break your neck.

Now that's a beautiful thing,
you know? [chuckles]

Yeah, I know.

-Oh! Jesus!
-All right.

Everyone, Seth, my attorney.

[laughs]
Come in, say hi to everybody.

Seth, Brian, Gina.

DiGONIS:
I'm not sure

that we know why we did it.

It was just a challenge.

And that's the same reason

-why this crew is doing what
they're doing tonight. -Right.

-Fuel this up.
-DiGONIS: It's a challenge.

By the way,
this type of thing makes

the 24 hours of Le Mans

look like a Boy Scout outing.

There is 18,700
and somewhat, uh...

law enforcement agencies
around the United States.

Knowingly, they're gonna
break the law at times,

but, uh, they'll probably pay
the dues for that.

[both laugh]

In about three, four minutes,
we got to go.

-Get ahead of you.
-I know.

-Then you got to go.
-Yeah.

[indistinct chatter]

-Goodbye.
-All right. Good luck.

Thank you for everything.
I really appreciate it.

All right. Call me for anything.

I will. Day and a half.

♪

Go.

[tires squeal]

♪ What has just come over me?

-Okay, we're on time.
-[cheering and whooping]

We're good.

♪ I was blind, but now I see

-♪ I'm gonna live life
like a ride ♪ -[horn honks]

ROY:
Uh, fun.

I'm driving cross-country.

Uh, yes, definitely take
that turnpike.

Very good.

-How fast can I go through?
-30.

Uh, thermal check.
Any point here?

MAHER:
There is a scanner speed trap

coming up by this bridge.

ROY:
Police on the right side.

Please kill the brake lights.

You're clear.
This is the fast stretch.

Put it down.

MAN [over radio]:
Keep going.

ROY:
All right, thermal check.

-What's the deal with speed
traps here? -It looks like

you are free.
Uh, you're free to go.

-No speed trap for a while.
-No speed traps.

Okay.

[man speaking indistinctly
over radio]

MAHER:
You're pretty golden here.

-ROY: Really?
-MAHER: Yeah.

-ROY: How golden am I?
-MAHER: Stick it right at 100.

You have a long way to go.

[Roy laughs]

♪ Now I have no fear...

-Pennsylvania border.
-ROY: Are you kidding me?

-Already?
-MAHER: Yep.

That's ridiculous.

-WOMAN [over radio]: 22-42.
-Thank you.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! -I
see him, I see him. I got him.

♪ Leave it all behind

♪ All behind

♪ Whoa, all behind...

ROY:
Ramp check?

It's all clear.

MAHER:
There's one car coming up.

ROY:
I don't see him.

You look ahead,
I'll look behind, okay?

♪ Walk through the fire

♪ I gotta fight

♪ Don't let, don't let...

-He's not coming after us.
-Okay.

Indianapolis at 5:39 a.m.

♪ Don't let, don't let go

♪ Walk through the fire

♪ Don't let, don't let go

♪ Into the night.

♪

MORSE: When we crossed
the Mississippi,

it was the most
glorious morning.

I truly remember
how fortunate I was,

you know, just to cross
that river at that time.

DOHERTY:
You didn't make enough headway

in-in the night, you're now
emerging in the daylight.

Sunday, Columbus Day weekend,

which again,
we had researched to be

one of the quietest periods
on the interstate.

So the roads
are much emptier than usual.

But, um,
you're into enforcement.

You're into, uh, 8:00 a.m.,
law enforcement

suddenly coming on the road.

But it was, it was very tough
to get over the shock

of Sunday morning,
when your body's saying,

"You've been in this vehicle now
12 hours. What are you doing?

Go to sleep."

QUARTIERE:
It felt quite surreal.

Got it up to maybe 160, 165--

triple the speed limit--
so you smile and you see

that sun coming up.

It was gorgeous.

TURNER: There really wasn't
a whole lot of conversation

between the two of us--
I mean, y-you're so busy,

the-the passenger was probably
busier than the driver,

just making sure that everything
was working right,

listening to the radios, uh...

DIEM:
I remember being

100% focused
on the task at hand,

whether I was in the right seat,
driving all the equipment,

and asking Doug to keep
his right foot on the gas...

-Yeah. -...or whether I was
in the left seat being told

to keep my right foot on the gas

and concentrating on the,
you know, the road ahead.

DOHERTY: The most important gear
in any car

were the driver and codriver.

All the technology in the world
couldn't help you

if you didn't anticipate
those things ahead.

Why would anybody do it twice?

-Exactly. Um...
-[laughs]

NEWSMAN:
The U.S. Express.

Steve Clausman is most
surprised at finishing first.

ICE-T: One thing the U.S.
Express guys knew they needed

was a solid team:
a driver and a codriver

who could do both jobs
equally well

and who could work together
with military efficiency

in close quarters.

David Morse
and Steve Clausman...

-[tires screeching]
-...were that type of team.

These two guys wanted to win.

They built a Porsche 928
with a massive fuel tank

that could make it across the country with only one stop.

But the machine
was only half the equation.

Clausman was a professional
driver, Morse a businessman,

a perfect pairing of strategy,
skill and endurance.

CLAUSMAN: Right now,
I look at it as probably

the stupidest thing
I ever did in my whole life.

Okay? And I questioned
myself many times.

Like, why in the hell
did I do this? You know?

Nobody knew I was driving
professionally, race cars.

I didn't really advertise
the fact that I did.

And of course, David, with
his thick, horn-rimmed glasses,

I mean, David looks
like Joe Citizen.

But David's an absolute maniac.

In those races, he turned into

a completely different guy.

He was running at a risk.
That's the bottom line.

He had his whole future,
business-wise,

his whole financial future
at stake,

and he still did it.

And I admire him for it.

Because he had
the guts to do it.

Let me tell you,
you were putting your life

in somebody else's hands,

you know, both ways, and, uh,

I trusted Steve.

ROY: We're in St. Louis
45-odd minutes early.

Excellent driving, Mr. Maher.

Okay.

Take a left, then a right.

GPS:
Recalculating.

All right, I'm not spotting.
Roll safe.

Make sure your detector's up.

-WEISMANN: 50? -In between 55--
it's looking like 55...

WEISMANN:
Here we go.

This is, uh, 3834, 9021.

WEISMANN:
Look for a high-speed car.

Looking.

Yeah, he's already west
of our position.

You'd better call.

-What would you like it to say?
-I need the latitude only.

We might've passed him.

-GOODRICH: Ready, guys?
-Go ahead.

GOODRICH:
Uh, north 3829, west 9046,

plus ten, I-44 West,
approaching Gray Summit.

Somebody's moving
quick-quick there.

-There, I have... -WEISMANN:
Yeah, I think we got him.

Oh, yeah.

-We got 'em.
-We have a visual.

I repeat: we have a visual.

WEISMANN:
That's them.

Oh, wow. Man, he's moving.

Nice spotting, Captain.

-MAHER: Oh, whoa, whoa.
-ROY: Ugh.

MAHER:
Sorry.

We didn't damage
our tires, did we?

No, it was just animal.

Morning.

Don't tell me
they see us already.

He says "Look up."

Cowbell Air, this is Cowbell
Ground. We have you in sight.

That's what...

There he is.

Can you hear us clearly? Over.

Dave.

I liked that move on Gumball.
I don't like it here.

-Paul liked it.
-Of course he likes it.

'Cause he wishes he was doing
it. He wishes he was in the car.

You start to feel
very vulnerable, particularly

-in a red car, doing that kind
of speed. -DOHERTY: Oh, yeah.

Daylight was really tough,

because I'm sure
you didn't do the-the-the 143,

55 and zero daytime?

Absolutely.

-[laughs]
-Wow.

-Absolutely. -Wow.
How many tickets that year?

I only got one, it was in Ohio.

-Okay. -But-but the thing
we've told you, Rick.

-Yeah?
-In '83, we hired a Turbo 210.

-Oh. -From California,
that met us in St. Louis.

CLAUSMAN:
Really? You have 'em?

You got the photographs
and the video

of this pilot flying
over the top of them?

INTERVIEWER:
Truckers mistaked it for cops

and stopped tattling,
and it was a lookout.

And it took video,
and it took still photography.

[whispers]:
Turn off your machine.

Turn it off.

DIEM:
O-Out of all the preparation

and all the stories
we heard about,

all the different tools
and all the different approaches

that everyone had taken
over the years,

it was the one tool
that we hadn't heard anybody

had-had-had thought
to-to deploy.

You're saying they did that?

-Wow.
-LEE: These are the guys

in first place?
Good for you, man.

[laughs]
That's great.

I think that's good.

TURNER:
Realistically, the plane

was not that big of a tool.

You know? It-it really wasn't.
It, uh...

It was a confidence builder
more than anything.

That's precisely said.

-That's exactly what it was.
-Maybe spotted the l--

the law enforcement
once or twice,

during the entire daylight time
from sunup to sundown.

-Yep. That's exactly right.
-It was just

the confidence of knowing
that we're sitting there

in a, in a bright red car

doing 140 miles an hour-plus
down the road,

knowing that someone is up there
looking forward and back.

And it just,
it was a confidence builder

-to keep your foot down.
-Yep.

Yeah, so how many people think
we cheated?

If you had a plane that could
slow down that slow

and fly that route,

you gonna tell me
they're not gonna get caught?

Crap. You're gonna get caught.

You're gonna get busted.

You got to be really coy and sly
about everything you do.

[clears throat]
That's a dead giveaway. Come on.

A plane flying over the highway
and spotting cops for you?

[grunts]

Would I consider
hiring an airplane

to be, um, outside the rulebook?

Maybe.

I'd have to think
about that one.

Rules? What rules?

Um, there were a few rules.

There were a few guidelines.

They were primarily
on the safety side.

Having radar jammers
and scanners and...

a godawful amount of electronics
is quite all right.

As long as your four tires
stay on the ground.

And nothing else, um, happens.

And, of course, you can't turn anybody else in.

-GOODRICH: God, he's flying.
-WEISMANN: Here he comes.

GOODRICH:
He is fucking flying, dude.

WEISMANN:
You're all clear.

All clear, all clear.

♪

USNER: Well, you can't look
at the fact that you're doing

a football field
every second and a half.

I mean, we have freeways
that are built for running

at least a minimum
of 100 miles an hour safely.

Speed is something
that-that drivers

just must become immune to.

You can't let the-the number

bog your mind down.

Remember: concentrate
on whatever you're doing.

Just like I must concentrate
on this interview now,

when you drive a car,

you should concentrate
on the car that you drive.

Cop, left side.

Cop also on--
possibly on right side.

-Slow it up now.
-We're within range. We're fine.

Yep. Cops on both sides.

-CORY WELLES: Clear.
-MAHER: Nice work.

And that guy would
so fucking come after us.

Oh, yeah, he's got that whole...

WOMAN [over radio]:
Any personnel with the subject?

Look at that.

BASKETT: Buzzing right now
on the bikes, yeah?

GOODRICH:
Yeah, here he comes.

You really think Turner, Diem,
or anyone else could do that?

Most of the way?

-It's possible.
-Eastbound, you got

a full-grown at 207 on
the right side facing, uh, you?

WEISMANN: Watch out for
all the sixes there, Westbound.

You're good to go already.
It's pretty quiet.

We good to go through, uh,
Oklahoma City to Amarillo?

-Hammer down.
-Love it.

QUARTIERE:
It was quite pleasing

to go three times
the 55-mile-an-hour speed limit.

On a straight road
with no other traffic around us.

We really were not
a reckless bunch at all.

Well, it's open
to interpretation.

But to hit 165, which was
pushing it in the Ferrari,

was quite rewarding.

It was very rewarding indeed.

[radio static]

The 55-mile-per-hour speed limit
saves lives, fuel,

and even saves you money
at the gas pump.

If every Oklahoman
drove 55 on our highways,

we could save over 250,000
gallons of gas every day.

And more important,
if we all slowed down,

we would save as many as 100
lives in Oklahoma every year.

Why 55? Because it works.

Okay, slow down,

slow down, slow down,
oh, cop, cop, cop, cop, cop.

DISPATCHER: 79. That's right
across from Bixby's store...

That was definitely a cop.

-Had two people in the car,
right? -Yeah, but...

-It was a cop.
-That was definitely a cop.

Next time I say "cop,"
full braking, like, instantly.

-No fucking around.
-Okay.

I had no respect
for the 55-mile-an-hour limit,

and I took great delight
in breaking the limit,

I can assure you.

These roads
are designed for speed.

They're not designed for 55.

It was an arbitrary
political decision that, uh,

different states
enforced differently,

different law enforcement
officials we met

during the event
and before and after the events,

uh, felt differently about.

There was no such thing
as 55 miles an hour.

It didn't make any difference.
I never saw 55.

-I think it's too slow.
-It's one of the best things

that the government
could have done,

to slow everybody down
a little bit.

Everybody goes too fast anyways.

I think it's a sin, actually.

It's a free country,
I pay my taxes.

I think I ought
to be able, able to go about

as fast as I want to go.

It's just too slow, too slow.

I think it's real healthy.

-Yeah.
-I think it could go up to 60.

Trying to pick up
some speed here.

WEISMANN:
You got miles ahead.

Ramp check clear.

WEISMANN: He is coming up
on these guys, zoom, zing, zang.

Gonna go right around
that truck.

GOODRICH:
Maher goes any-lane style.

WEISMANN:
Good. That's what you need.

[indistinct radio chatter]

If we keep this up, we might
have time for a stop in Vegas.

Maybe we can buy a joke book
while we're there.

VIETZE:
It's unbelievable

to get an airplane involved,
to have

a fucking plane as part
of your operation...

WEISMANN:
How we doing?

GOODRICH:
Clear, good. Pretty good.

I can't believe
they can't transmit.

WEISMANN:
It's terrible.

We should've tested it.

...and you never once
checked the radio

to make sure you could
communicate with them?

GOODRICH: There's got to--
it's-it's operator error.

WEISMANN:
I can't-- it's got to be.

VIETZE: The whole point
of the plane being there was

for communication purposes.

Uh, for them to be able to let
them know, on the ground,

-that there were police ahead.
-MAHER: Here's a toll.

What was that? Brakes?

I don't know.

That was not the engine.
That was the brakes.

Yeah.

MAHER: What do you think?
Any special...

ROY: All the way to the right,
all the way to the right.

-How you doing? $3.50.
-How do?

Can I have a receipt, please?

TOLL BOOTH OPERATOR:
Have a good one.

Thank you.

[engine revving]

[horn blares]

ROY:
Ah, come on.

MAHER:
I thought there was more room.

We're storm chasers.
We're here to save your lives.

[static]

Can't you see how many lives
we want to save?

27 miles to Oklahoma City.

[indistinct chatter]

[static]

Really don't like those
in Oklahoma,

Dave, seriously.

One call from one
of those guys...

-I know. He...
-...could fuck us completely.

He hit the accelerator
too hard, you know. I...

I understand, but listen.

It's not worth 45 seconds
to fuck the whole drive

because one of those guys
has a problem with us.

-Stealth is the key,
and we, you know... -[laughs]

You know, I have to laugh,
because you're not stealthy

-when you go by anybody at a...
-Yeah, I know, but...

-Whether it's 105 or 145.
-Wait a second. Wait a second.

It-It's whether someone chooses
to call or not call.

"Oh, some asshole came by
in a blue car,"

-versus "I'm calling the police
about this asshole." -Right.

All right? And that's
the difference between us...

-I understand. -...you know,
getting a phone call

-six months from now....
-You're totally right.

-No, you're totally right.
-...having a warrant

for our arrest in Oklahoma.

DiGONIS:
Once you're in the event

and once you're competing
against others,

if you try too hard,

sometimes you'll give 'em
the impression that you're wild.

Um, if you don't
try hard enough,

you'll embarrass yourself.

So I chose the first.

DOHERTY:
Man with no fear.

Mike showed up with this,
uh, this Pantera.

At least it was a Pantera

at one time.

Instead of a V-8 engine,
we were pretty sure to this day

it had Apollo rocket engines
under the hood.

And this thing

could go 200 miles an hour.

I want to to do it again.

Where are all these guys going?

I got to race 'em
for some money.

We didn't make any money
doing all of this.

STANDER:
Oh, Mike is ten tenths,

holds back no punches. Um,

exceptional driver.

Uh, drove on the ragged edge,
and did it

with a smile.
No-Fear DiGonis.

He was the original

no-fear guy.

Couple of thousand miles
into the race,

we just had

the secondary side
of the coil wires shake loose.

The fellow that was driving
with me, Rafael,

was a technician
in my place of business.

He was comfortable enough
with the car.

He got out the window,
passenger side,

crawled onto the roof,

laid himself onto the rear deck
of the car,

and surgically
and very carefully managed

to remedy the problem with
a secondary ignition system.

Uh... returning to the car

through the passenger door
window,

sit himself in,
strap himself up again,

and continue the race.

So that worked out okay.

[laughs]

INTERVIEWER: How fast
were you going at that point?

Well, I had to be kind to him,
so I slowed down

to about 80 or 90 mile an hour.

Uh... it was, uh...

It was a comfortable speed
for him.

Had he done this before?

I didn't ask him
if he had done it before.

I just... suggested

that he better do it this time.
[laughs]

'Cause we didn't have
too many options.

GPS:
Drive 120, 66 miles

to final point.

-[ding]
-GPS: Reroute.

-Recalculating. Recalculating.
-[ding]

-ROY: Shut up.
-GPS: Ten, ten.

WEISMANN: We got you inside.
We got you inside at Conoco.

GOODRICH:
Holy shit.

WEISMANN:
What?

Their overall average speed--
93.6.

WEISMANN:
Put the foot down, guys.

We're looking out for you.

Let's go to Texas.

ROY:
So, Dave, do you know how

to use a BlackBerry
to send text messages?

You type in, uh, latitude
and longitude, first four digits

that are on the thing,
and then I-44 West.

-They talking about us?
-No.

OFFICER: Uh, weaving
over the line, in and out.

DISPATCHER:
Okay.

[dispatcher
speaking indistinctly]

Everyone used as much gas
as everyone else?

That's us.

-MAN: I have 116.
-ROY: What do we do?

116. So that's the guy.
Where is he?

-[beeping]
-He's right ahead.

That's him right there.

Does he see us?

We'll hear in a second.

Oh, my God. Yeah.

He's braking.
I think he's turning around.

-Is he really?
-Yeah.

-For sure?
-Well, should-should we get out?

-Yeah.
-He's crossing over the median.

[Roy sighs]

All right. Let's get out
at this exit and hide.

I don't know if we're gonna have
a lot of room to hide out here.

-There's not many hiding places.
-Yeah?

-Oh, my God, my heart is about
to fucking fall out. -Well...

MAHER:
It's only hearsay.

You know, he didn't
catch you doing it.

He may... He'll follow you
for a little bit.

-I don't think he can
pull you over. -[mumbles]

I don't know.

Should we hide anything, or...?

What if I get out right here?

Um...

Well, there's,
there's nowhere to go.

-I mean...
-Check the map.

Get off, let 'em pass.

What do you think?
Right now.

Go.

[static]

ROY:
Brake lights off.

He was weaving.

-Eyes open.
-Careful. Careful. Stop sign.

Stop sign.

Go this way. Go this way.

-Wait.
-You see him?

MAHER:
I can't see if he's coming.

[officer speaking indistinctly]

-All right, so...
-He thinks we're still going.

-MAHER: I'm gonna get out.
-ROY: Yes.

We got him pissed right here.

I mean...

Should I shut... shut this off?

-Turn me off. All power.
-WELLES: Off all power.

[beep]

INGEBORG ROY:
I'm trying to feel peaceful,

but it's the surface
that is peaceful,

not the inside.

I worry like crazy.

That's really what it all is,
uh... is about.

Very difficult.

I'm excited, but I won't sleep.

I believe in fate.

Something is meant to be,

it'll be fine,
we'll be protected.

If it's not meant to be,

then something will happen
that will

stop it right
in the middle of tracks.

But whether you scream or not,

one's children do
whatever they need to do.

I won't probably
won't be sleeping much.

But that's okay.

With, you know...

it goes with the territory,
you know.

One is excited
and yet very concerned.

[footsteps passing nearby]

[woman speaking indistinctly]

Mmm. See,
even the cigarette went out,

which is just as well.
[laughs]

WEISMANN: Cowbell Ground,
Cowbell Ground, Cowbell Air.

Jonny, any update
on that coordinate?

GOODRICH:
I keep asking for 'em.

-I'm trying, man.
-What the hell else

can they be doing?

We need updates, man.

They should be in that stretch
of road, definitely.

[choppy radio static]

Maybe you should take over.

All right.

Put the scanner back on.

Just press power.
You know how?

-Let's try to find 'em.
-BASKETT: What do you see, Jon?

WEISMANN:
What's that?

GOODRICH: It's... an SUV cop
sitting in the median.

Something else pulling over.

WEISMANN:
Two bogeys. Two bogeys at 9811.

BASKETT: I wonder
if they're looking for them.

WEISMANN: All right,
they're talking to each other.

-GOODRICH: Yeah, they are.
-Ground, we need an update.

We need an update now, please.

Uh, it's halfway
to the Oklahoma border of Texas.

That's nice work.

9811. 9811.

[indistinct radio chatter]

You got a bogey. 9811.

Police vehicle
on center median?

Yes, it is. There he is.

WEISMANN:
Is that them?

GOODRICH: Oh, there he is,
hiding behind that truck,

-just past the off-ramp.
-Stay behind that truck.

There's, uh, dual bogeys

about a quarter mile
up ahead on the left.

[indistinct radio transmission]

There-There's two of them.

[laughing]

Yes!

GOODRICH:
He's past.

But I bet he's trying to let
his ring piece go loose again.

[laughter]

-Thank you, big cover.
-[laughs]

Whew!

Um, Dave?

Uh, if you want to switch again,

so we can burn out
of this state, fine.

Otherwise, I'm gonna hold it at,
like, the mid-80s

or high, like, 90-ish

and then blast through Texas.

Because...

you know, they're on to us.

And there's only one road
out of this state.

♪

DOHERTY: A lot of things
came together in 1983

that-that gave us a...

a lot of doubt
there'd be another U.S. Express.

The Cannonball Run movie
had come out,

and, even though it was
a farce,

all of a sudden
you started hearing

on the citizen band radio, uh,
"Wow, could be a Cannonball

going through here,"
that sort of thing.

MAN [over radio]:
Who you been talking to?

MAN 2: Foreign... French sports
car was, uh, going westbound.

MAN 3: There was a Cannonball
this weekend.

QUARTIERE:
The event ended in '83.

My belief is

it became publicized.

And you have liability issues.

And other things crop up.

The police are waiting for you.

They knew about the race.

They knew it was coming through,
and they were pissed.

We left separated
by at least 15 minutes a car.

So it's not as if you're running
next to each other.

But you still run into traffic.

You still run into obstacles.

I can't remember exactly
the geographic point.

There's a roadblock.

And he says,
"I know what you're doing,

I'm taking you to jail,"
and I looked at him, I said,

"What are you talking about?"
He said, "Well, you're a part

of this race."
I said, "What race?"

That pretty much spelled the end
of, uh, the U.S. Express.

What do you see?

I see, uh,
your foot to the floor

to the top of the next hill.

They're doing amazing.

They're kicking major ass here.

BASKETT: What was the average
miles here, Jon?

-GOODRICH: I think he said
it was, uh, 93.6. -Whoa.

MAHER:
They said a small thunderstorm

is starting to form.

That'll be a problem.

ROY:
Small? That's great.

There was
an 80% likelihood before.

[over radio]: Hey, guys,
we're 14 out, going to get fuel.

We'll, uh, regroup.
We'll call you from the ground.

We might not see 'em again
after this storm.

ROY: Why?
Visibility is dropping, so...

patrol saw less cop cars
on the other side.

MAHER: One good thing I learned
about driving in the rain

is that you really don't get
many cops out

'cause none of 'em want
to get wet,

so they don't want to pull you
over and give you a ticket.

I can't see shit.

[indistinct talking]

-MAHER: What are you asking for?
-ROY: Ramp check on the right.

You're clear.

It's not cops so much we have
to worry about at this point,

it's control and speed.

♪

EGLOFF: The wind and rain can cut through you real quick,

you know, and, you know,
bring your fatigue down,

but that's part of the rally,
we're just gonna...

That's part of the
accomplishment, the endurance,

-making it, you know?
-MORSE: Well, the person

I think I admired the most
was the person

who rode the motorcycle.

I can't think of going fast,

cross-country...

[chuckling]: you know,
holding on to a motorcycle--

oh, please--
in the middle of the night

as being even close to fun.

-How'd you do the other times?
-Very good.

-Super. You gonna win this time?
-Yes.

DOHERTY: Only one human being
ran two Cannonballs

and four U.S. Expresses,

and that's George Egloff.

When you look
at a sign somewhere

in Kansas or Nebraska or...

and the mileage across the state
is, like, oh, God, no.

DOHERTY: Doing this for almost two days?

Uh, going from one ocean
to the other?

There's no other event like
it-- nothing's ever been done

in Europe like that, nothing's
been done in Australia,

nothing in, uh,
South America or Africa.

Um, his record will stand
the test of time.

My dad and mom

had motorcycles.

My mom, I got her picture

inHarley Women magazine

when she rode a motorcycle
back then.

My whole family's always been
into motorcycling.

It's just a good thing,
I think.

It seemed that
I always got involved

in this long-distance stuff.

I used to go on touring trips,

you know,
just to ride around Lake Ontario

for the heck of it
on a weekend, you know?

Everything was
just going right in my life

-at that time.
-DOHERTY: George is just...

a sportsman--
uh, knew he'd never win.

Uh, he'll never be challenged,
to my knowledge,

for... for the endurance
of this alone.

I mean, he was referred to as,
you know,

Iron Kidney Egloff for a while.

♪

Hope those guys are all right
in the plane.

I'm gonna get a Double Whopper
with Cheese.

I want the TenderGrill
chicken sandwich.

What's a value Angus meal?

What's an Angus meal?

This says we're past the weather
on the weather map.

I'm having a hard time
believing it.

You're filing down
to one lane again.

Goddamn it!

Holy cow.

This goes on forever...

You don't have to do
35 miles an hour

just because there's one lane.
I don't get it.

[frustrated sigh]

22 miles an hour.

This is so fucking brutal.

I can't stand it anymore.

Want to play cards or something?

Breaker 1-9,
this is Big D in the Eagle.

CLAUSMAN: You cannot compare
the traffic conditions

of when it was that...
at those days as it is now.

There are too many people
on the road

to be able to even think
that you can accomplish that

without a police escort.

There's too much traffic.

GOODRICH: So what do you want me
to tell these fucking guys?

WEISMANN: Tell 'em to sit tight,
we're on our way.

Copy that.

[sighs]
Goodrich says, "Sit down.

"We're close by.
Weather a little crazy up here,

but we're doing
everything we can."

Is it open?

Wide open. Get rid
of the cigarette. Let's go.

All right, put the pedal down.

Don't lift up until I say.

ROY: I want to see
your best-ever spotting

of all time.

Watch this guy.
He's got his blinker on.

[winces]

-Are we okay?
-Yeah.

Just hope he doesn't call us in.

Current position:
Alley Ray 10435.

I repeat: 10435.

10435. He's coming up on, uh,
Anton Chico pretty quick.

Look at how open and stretched
the roads are.

There's no place to hide.

That guy's going very fast.

-Looks... I'm still thinking...
-Looks like them.

Whoo-hoo!

WEISMANN: Ground, we are
directly overhead, kids.

Ha-ha, we got you in sight.

Truck stop on the right.

All clear...

Feels good to have 'em back.

It does.

MAN [over radio]: All right,
drivers, I see blue sky

going west.

♪

MAHER: 120 all the way
around this bend.

Your next ramp is, uh...

has got nothing-- all clear.

Ramp's clear,
but watch this truck.

Nice move.

♪

WEISMANN:
There he goes. He's moving.

That's how we like it, boys,
that's how we like it.

GOODRICH:
My God, he's on it! Yeah!

BASKETT:
Where is he? Where is he?

WEISMANN:
He's shooting over this bridge.

GOODRICH:
Yeah, he just blew over this.

Holy shit.

Clear until tomorrow.

♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

♪

[speaking indistinctly]

♪

WEISMANN: Wow, these guys are
really in the homestretch here.

GOODRICH:
They really are.

WEISMANN:
You guys are hauling ass.

Doing great.

We love it up here.

Desert style. Wow.

Power stays on.

TRUCKER [over radio]: Hey,
you west-bounders up there,

I got a sports car coming,
doing about 95 miles an hour.

TRUCKER 2:
How about I try the old

"throw the left turn signal on

just before he gets here trick,"
see if that bothers him.

CLAUSMAN:
They were high.

They'd be putting on mile
after mile after mile.

And they'd talk like old ladies.

"Breaker 1-9.
Here, this is,

this is
the Blue Canyon Bulldog."

TRUCKER 3: That sucker
can run 200 mile an hour,

but it sure as hell can't outrun
a Motorola radio wave.

CLAUSMAN: If you went by those
trucks and you blew by 'em,

they turned you into the cops.

We had to be cool.

When they kept passing the word that we were coming,

way up ahead, these trucks
would get in each,

block both lanes.

You can always tell
how someone drives

by their relationship
with truckers.

America moves by truck,

and if you want to efficiently
move down the highway,

you have to know
how to deal with them.

WEISMANN:
The next mile is terrible.

Truck upon truck piled up
next to each other.

-[indistinct radio transmission]
-Ramp check.

MAN [over radio]:
Yeah.

I'm doing 70 miles an hour,
you don't need a ramp check.

TRUCKER: Well, that's gonna
put us ahead of him.

MAHER: How can you not even
initiate the move

-to get out of the way?
-ROY: I know.

It's nuts.

[Maher exhales]

TRUCKER:
I said the way the nose

-was up in the air...
-Come on.

DIEM:
The key to racing is,

is to be properly trained and
to do it within safe limits.

And as fast as we were going
across the country

at 143 miles an hour,
which-which a lot of people

would probably say,
"Gee, how unsafe is that,"

there-there wasn't a moment
in time that entire race

that I didn't think
that we were 100%

well within our-our safety zone.

FARAH:
When you deal with truckers,

you want to drive by the book.

Take passes at safe times,
alert,

use the hazards

to thank them for moving
out of the way.

If you communicate
your intentions with them

in a respectful way,

they will make your day
very easy.

ROY:
Oh, rabbit. Whoa!

[indistinct radio chatter]

MAHER: I wonder if your, uh,
front camera caught that.

-ROY: Wow. -MAHER: That was
a huge jackrabbit.

Oh. [scoffs] Yeah.

♪

Hey, kindly coming down
on your right side.

Oh-oh, cop, cop, cop, cop, cop,
cop, cop. Cop.

It's all right.

-Brake lights on when?
-Now.

-MAHER: He's facing
the other way. -ROY: Yeah.

How good am I?

That was a great call.

Love you for that.

Brake lights off?

Brake lights off.

Voilà. Arizona.

He couldn't possibly think
somebody would be doing

126 miles an hour
in bad weather.

[Roy laughs]

ROY:
What, what, what?

[Welles speaks indistinctly]

ROY:
What the fuck is this?

It's a 35-mile-an-hour...
construction zone.

[chuckles]

ROY:
Holy fuck. Arizona, New Mexico,

I will never come back.

No!

Trying so hard.

ROY:
It-It's like...

some...

Twilight Zoneepisode

about people who want
to race cross-country.

MAHER: At least do the posted
speed limit at least,

and add ten.

[sighs]
Fucking shit.

Tony wins and Jeff don't,
Jeff's upset.

[laughs] That's how it goes.

It's the male ego, i-it's built
into you, you know?

[laughs] You got to win.

MAHER: I don't think
you can possibly do this

with all this one-lane stuff.

I don't think it can be done.

I think it can be done.

I think we'll do it.

MAHER:
Ready to scream.

DOHERTY: We are by nature
a competitive species.

And we tend to get better

by competing against
as close to our peer as we can,

and then raising the bar.

TV REPORTER:
So tell me one last question.

Are you going to win today?

-Well, we'll win tomorrow.
-[laughs]

30 hours from now.

JARLSON: It's being number one,
and, well,

second place is
the first loser.

Americans always have been
very competitive people.

It's part of our nature.

MAHER:
You know what?

-I don't want failure
to be an option. -No.

I want to fucking break
this record.

And going into it, I thought
it-it was a no-brainer.

Um, but getting in under 32,

I thought,
was extremely achievable.

I-It is, but certain things

have to fall into place,
you know?

Beyond-- these are beyond
our control.

Yeah.

-MAHER: Whoa.
-WELLES: Whoa. That was cool.

MAHER:
Whoa. What was that?

-WELLES: Lightning.
-ROY: Lightning.

MAHER: That's great because
we're gonna go right into it.

It's somehow ironic that,
you know,

as we come to the final stage,
the thermals don't work,

the scanner frequencies,
for Arizona, don't work.

MAHER:
Forget about the thermals.

I can hardly see where
the fucking road is.

BECKY DAMONE: It was almost
like hitting a wall.

You know, it just...

I think you just finally...

you realize you're tired,

'cause we didn't sleep.

Neither one of us slept.

Staying up was part
of the battle.

Um, going fast for the first
thousand, 1,500 miles,

that wasn't difficult.

The second leg of the trip

was where, uh, fatigue
would set in.

EGLOFF: If I took a little
45-minute nap,

that would rejuvenate me
and I'd go again.

That's part of the rally.
We're just gonna...

That's part
of the accomplishment,

the endurance.
Making it, you know.

♪

ROY:
Here's the response.

Uh... "Storm is still
heading north.

"Lots of rain south
of the storm as well.

"The worst of the storm
will hit Flagstaff

"in 30 minutes.

What is your distance
from Flagstaff?"

-Our distance from Flagstaff...
-70 miles.

70. So at this speed...

We'll be there in a half hour.

We'll be there exactly
when the storm hits.

-But we're better...
-We're not traveling

the same way the storm
is traveling, right?

We-We don't know.
I mean, again,

he said if the storm
is south of Flagstaff...

WELLES:
That's traveling north, though.

ROY:
Heading north.

So my feeling is...
I know exactly what...

[Welles speaking indistinctly]

...Dave is gonna say

and what you're gonna say is,
the faster we go now...

-Yeah.
-the better,

because whether
we have to go through it

or we miss it,
we need to make up time.

Um...

It's so unfortunate,
but it's so true.

WELLES:
Yep.

[beeping]

VIETZE:
I mean, you think somebody

doing something so illegal

would be kind of shunned.

Uh, and-and yet, you know,

Alex has spun it
in a, in a different way.

And act-actually,
Alex has built

his whole career
around-around this.

Please welcome seven-time
road rally champion Alex Roy.

-Alex, come on out here.
-[cheers and applause]

-What?
-Uh, so you decided

that you wanted
to-to attempt this.

How did you go about it?
What were the tricks?

And, uh, what have you learned?

-Well, it's not a good idea.
-Mm-hmm.

I mean, no.
It-It's really hard.

-Yeah.
-Uh, so we bought, you know,

a radar detector
and a laser jammer,

and then we went on eBay
and bought, uh,

-military thermal night vision.
-Wow.

And then we bought...

Wh-What is the night vision for?

It's a camera
on the front bumper,

and then you can drive
without headlights.

Uh, and you take an airplane
with you?

I have a good friend
who has a plane.

-Yeah.
-And he flew it overhead

and, uh, told us
where the police were.

I mean, actually, it turned out
to be a pretty good,

a good investment,
because a lot of come--

has come out of this for Alex.

You know, since he did this,

there's been, uh,
numerous feature

magazine articles about him.

Uh, you know, he was invited
onto David Letterman.

Um, he was invited to speak
at the FBI

to a, to a class at the FBI
in training.

He's done Google Talks.

I'm sure he's gonna do
a TED Talk someday

about something,
if he hasn't already.

Alex, today, uh,
and always has been,

a-a tremendous kind of advocate

for-for driver safety, uh,
for safety on the road.

Alex is, to this day,
one of the safest, uh...

-Nah, I can't say that.
-INTERVIEWER: He's not.

-He's not.
-[interviewer laughs]

[beeping]

Perfect.

Got to come back
in the seat a little.

Clear on the right?
Clear on the right?

Clear.

Alex, we really got to hustle.

If you did
a hundred miles an hour

the rest of the way in...

I mean, even more gas, dude.

I mean, we're...

I'm telling you
it's very possible we may not.

There's something
about getting into a car,

and the minute you know you're
in a race, you're in a race.

And you don't care
what happens after that.

ROY: Can I pass them
over the double yellow?

MAHER:
Absolutely.

ROY:
What's on the right side?

-Cap?
-Cap.

ROY: Well, in "M" mode,
this car's really good.

[Maher chuckles]

SULLIVAN: So, all the way
to the finish line,

from when we hit
the California border,

we were flying and looking
behind us, waiting

for those guys to catch us.
That was our big thing.

We got to get there
before them, 'cause,

you know, maybe we'll catch
somebody in the process

and-and move up a place,
but there's no way

-we were letting those guys...
-INTERVIEWER: Right.

There's this
almost 3,000-mile race,

and it turns out to be a sprint

for the last 200, 300 miles.

All clear down the median.

Thermals and binoculars.

You know, I should've waited
for Josh to pull up.

WELLES: He's giving me...
he's gonna have to follow...

find us.

Don't worry about him.

ROY: I see a Cayenne Turbo with
high-powered Xenons back there.

That was a great intercept.

[indistinct chatter]

-ROY: How far...
-WELLES: Stay left.

ROY:
How far to the exit?

WELLES:
How many miles?

MAHER:
Five. Little over five.

[Welles speaking indistinctly]

♪

ROY:
Over here...

This is gonna ruin the footage
for the movie.

WELLES:
He's probably gonna race you...

MAHER:
Oh, the Ferrari?

[speaks indistinctly]

[indistinct radio transmission]

Oh, yeah, he's on.

Come on, Wexler.

He's not as crazy
as you, though.

WELLES:
That's perfect.

Stay left. Just keep going.

[Welles speaking indistinctly]

This is the quieter part.

I need all this video
of what we're doing right now...

-This alone...
-Just worry about the driving.

Oh, my God.

It's gonna be insane.

[laughs]

-♪
-[indistinct talking]

MAHER:
Yeah.

WELLES:
Back to the left.

Hammer down.

Is that a motorcycle?

MAHER:
It's a motorcycle.

[indistinct chatter]

-WELLES: No. No.
-MAHER: No.

-Give him some space.
-[Welles speaks indistinctly]

WELLES:
Your exit is 4th Street.

Two exits to go.

MAHER:
4th and 5th Street,

-one mile?
-WELLES: Yeah.

[indistinct talking]

MAHER:
Yes.

-WELLES: Yes...
-[Maher speaks indistinctly]

WELLES:
You follow 4th Street.

4th Street's gonna go on.

♪

ROY:
Let's roll windows down?

-Left side.
-4th only, left side.

Windows down?

WELLES:
Careful.

-MAHER: Careful, careful.
-WELLES: Stay straight.

You're not following
these people. Straight.

Take a right at the light.

All righty.

MAHER:
Have a green.

-ROY: Right here?
-WELLES: Yes.

-Careful, careful, careful.
-ROY: I got, I got, I got it.

WELLES:
Left at the light.

-Cop.
-Which car?

Oh.

[indistinct radio transmission]

He's making a U-turn?

Don't worry about it. Go.

JARLSON:
I was there for the finish.

Someone...

was spotting further out,
and said,

"They're here. They're
on their way right now."

-Go for this car, go for
this car? -Don't worry about it.

JARLSON:
He still had his foot in it.

He was going for every second
of time he could get.

[excited shouts]

Come on.
You got to run, kid!

Run!

[indistinct talking]

WOMAN: Okay,
and then hold on to that.

-MAN: Here's how it looks.
-Okay?

Where's the time card?

Straight in.

[indistinct radio transmission]

ROY:
Where's the time card?

MAN:
Punch the card, punch the card.

-Here. -You take the card.
I got to see to the Honda.

Punch the card, man.

-Where's the clock?
-It's right there on the dash.

WRIGHT:
I put it in the realm

of one of those crazy things
I did as a kid that, um...

You know, again, you know,
it feels like this weird...

dream I had.
You know, you know,

I still kind of...
it's hard to believe

that I actually went
and did that.

But, um, I'm really glad I did.

Um, but it's... it feels

like a surreal part of my life.

And so the fact that, you know, periodically, your life

can kind of jump into,
you know, surreal space,

um... you know,

makes me very happy, actually.

You know, and I look forward
to more of those episodes,

-you know, in the future.
-[sighs]: Wow.

JARLSON: And when they got out
of the car, you could see...

as they got out of the car,
they were excited,

and all of a sudden it just...

boom, we're here.

You know,
the usual champagne stuff

and hugging everybody,
but that was about it.

It was just kind of...

it wasn't a big thing,
it was just kind of over.

It just ended.

ROY:
I think this might be

the most important thing
I've done in my life.

Ah, you got a ways to go,
but's it's pretty...

-Oh, maybe.
-it's right up there.

-I think it might be.
-And then they'll be looking

-for you the rest of your life.
-I know.

[indistinct chatter]

♪

ICE-T: Breaking cross-country
speed records isn't baseball.

The stats are unofficial.

There's no sanctioning body.

But for Alex and Dave,
proving a legitimate time

was just as important
as the run itself.

Time stamps.

GPS tracking.

Gas fill-up receipts.

Anything that matches a time

with a location
that can't be forged or faked.

Alex and David
documented everything,

while film producer Cory Welles

set up a studio
in the back seat

to capture the run on camera.

They returned
with a mountain of evidence

to prove their time was legit,

and they had indeed
broken the record.

Even more than that,
Alex proved that the time

Diem and Turner set in 1983

was not only possible,

but it could be beaten.

And yet one question remains:

Why would anyone risk their
life in a speeding gas bomb

to cross 3,000 miles
quicker than some other guy

in another car
with the same crazy idea?

Why did Cannon Ball Baker
do it?

Why did Brock Yates
or Rick Doherty

or Diem and Turner do it?

Why did Alex and David do it?

Was it personal satisfaction?

Were they chasing something,

or werethey being chased?

Those questions can't be
answered with gas receipts

or GPS or a spotter plane.

We just have to take
their word for it.

CLAUSMAN: I can sit here
right now and say

what we did was the stupidest
thing in the world.

Dumb. Crazy.

But like I said,
we'd do it again.

STANDER: Now we're grown up and
mature and we're responsible,

and, uh...
gee, if somebody told me

that they were ready
to do this again,

count me in.
[laughs]

I'm ready to go at it again.

MORSE:
I'm really glad I did it.

I think I'd die if my kids

-ever did it, though.
-DOHERTY: I always wished

that I'd get a phone call
saying, "Rick, it's happened.

"We've got enough people.
Can you run?

We'd like to have you back."

And, uh, I'm still waiting
for that phone call myself,

instead of having to make
that phone call to others.

ICE-T: After letting the statute
of limitations expire,

Alex and Dave were able
to discuss

their accomplishments publicly.

What can be said about Alex is
he opened up the floodgates.

Since then, every October,
small teams set out

to travel coast-to-coast.

Some do it for the fun,
some the adventure,

and some set records, too.

♪

♪

-[applause]
-Congratulations.

Hey.

[cheers and applause]

Hey, welcome, George.

WOMAN:
We are awfully glad to see you.

♪

WOMAN:
Hey, you made it this time

-in time for the banquet.
-Oh, yeah.

Did you have any equipment
problems or anything?

Yeah, the center stand fell off,
uh, the windshield cracked,

and I lost my face shield.

-One ticket in Arizona?
-What?

-One ticket in Arizona?
-Yeah. 104 in Arizona.

[laughs]

Oh, I got stopped, also,
for doing 82,

but I talked my way out of it.

WOMAN:
What did you tell 'em?

That, uh-- oh,
my headlight was falling out,

and I had it tied
to a bungee cord,

and I wanted to try to make it
to a shop by nightfall.

[laughter]

WOMAN 2:
That sounds good.

CLAUSMAN:
I don't know, man, guys,

I'm 42 years old, and I'm having a kick-ass time,

and you guys are younger.

Let's liven up, get drunk,
get naked or something.

You know, make... make something
happen around here, you know.

I mean, for Christ's sake.

I want to do it again.

Where are all these guys going?

I got to race 'em
for some money.

We didn't make any money
doing all of this.

No, our lights, uh...

We-we-we turn on the lights
in New York

and we see California,
and then we just...

just drive straight here.

[laughter]

So this is a, this is
a very competitive event.

We're, uh...

we're in it for enjoying
the American highway.

We're in it for, uh, for proving
that we can do something

in time, speed, distance

with other people who enjoy

that same highway
and camaraderie.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪