In 2007, John Ficarra was reading Brock Yates' amazing book "Cannonball!", while simultaneously reading articles on The 24 Hours of LeMons crapcan endurance racing, and about the current transcontinental runs and rallies by trust fund babies with super cars, spotter planes, and scarves. From those automotive shenanigans an idea was created ...
Could you cross the US on a budget? Could you do it in a Craigslist special? Could you do it for, say, $2904 including the car? The amount came from the distance from NYC to San Francisco ... 2904 miles. Why San Francisco? Because no one really wanted to drive all the way across the country and end up in Los Angeles.
An email was sent out to a few folks discussing the idea, and funny enough a few folks answered. Disturbingly poor cars were rounded up, and on cold morning in Brooklyn the first The 2904 took place. Surprisingly, to all involved, all the cars made it. More importantly many stories were told, and much fun was had by all. To commemorate the event, parts from the losing cars created The Crappy Trophy, and it has been passed to every winner to this day.
Thinking that would be the end of it, and the pointless point had been made, in 2008 a little British publication contacted The 2904 headquarters and asked if they could join the frey. and golly, when Top Gear calls you answer. So The 2904 set off again, in slightly better cars, and slightly better costumes.
For the next three years the runs just rolled along until climate change smacked us in the face. Days before the 2012 run, Hurricane Sandy chugged up the East Coast and wiped everything out. So we cancelled. The thought was that maybe that should be the end of The 2904, but more poor decisions would stop that rational from taking hold.
In 2013, for some idiotic reason we were back, and for the first time The 2904 would go the traditional Cannonball route from the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan to the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, CA. Doing the original Cannonball route would be perfect way to finish the last The 2904…
…and then in 2015 Cannonball record holder, Ed Bolian called. Well, damn, I guess we’ll have to do this again. Challenges were made, cars were rounded up, and Bolian kicked everyone’s ass in a twice crashed, 12-owner AMG Mercedes he bought from a dead hooker and somehow made it fit into the rules. Surprise, surprise, but in the end we had run the traditional Cannonball route with the current record holder. A perfect end to The 2904.
Well maybe not. 2017 came around and someone was foolish enough to say “hey, this is the 10th anniversary of the first The 2904. We should go one last time.” Well, apparently, someone was foolish enough to listen. The largest field of cars since the US Express in the early ‘80s was rounded up and the run would be the original The 2904 route of NYC to San Francisco. Joining The 2904 would be vehicles from the C2C Express, a Cannonball event started in the image The 2904 by a tremendous lad from New Zealand. One dead deer, one Captain Chaos, and many miles later The 2904 arrived in San Francisco and many Cannonball dreams were realized. 10 years. Much fun. No injuries. Many stories. That would be last The 2904.
We are pretty sure. No, really. Next up is The 24900. Cannonball around the globe. More on that later.