The Rules
Follow them... or else
The Challenge
Drive the 2904 miles from New York City to California for $2904 including the vehicle, fuel, food, tools, repairs, and tickets.
The Budget
What counts in the $2904:
- The vehicle’s purchase price
- Any modifications made to said vehicle – including parts and labor
- Fuel
- Oil (current record 14 quarts burnt by one car)
- Speeding tickets (current record is 3)
- Tolls
- Food
What doesn’t count in the $2904
- Safety items: Tires, Wheels, Brake Components, Suspension Components, Seatbelts, Seats, Fuel Cell, Steering Linkage, Lighting, Windshield wipers, Fire extinguisher, Roll bar, Shag carpeting. (There is NO LIMIT on safety-equipment spending, and yes shag carpeting makes any vehicle safer.)
- Registration, insurance, and licensing
- Transport to start
- Deodorant
If you are clever enough to wrangle up some sponsors, congratulations, but the budget still applies no matter where the cash comes from. Receipts will be checked!
The Rig
Anything you can lay your hands on, won't break the budget, and are confident won't leave your crew stranded in North Platte, Nebraska (possibly the smelliest state in the Union.) The purchase price has to be realistic. Getting your Aunt Tillie to sell you her "used" Corvette for $1000 will be considered an act of douchebaggery and will be penalized. Prep the rig anyway you want, but any non-safety modifications will count toward your $2904 budget.
Sell stuff off your car? Good for you. Buy yourself a snowcone. That money can't be used towards your budget. Vehicles are to be registered and fully insured. No using duplicate vehicles at the end, or transporting vehicle via rail, air, or giant trebuchets, mangonels and onagers during the event. Vehicles will be inspected at the beginning of the event. If the rig totally craps out enroute it may be sold for bus tickets home, or burned for warmth while awaiting rescue.
Demerits
For every dollar you go over the $2904 it adds one minute to your time. Flagrant misrepresentation of the rig, it’s cost, fuel used, and tickets received will be penalized on a highly scientific sliding scale developed by our panel of esteemed judges. Believe me, they will know if you’re full of crap.
The Course
NYC to California. The actual route is up to you bub. Just start at the start and finish at the finish.
The original The 2904 ran from The Redball Garage in Manhattan and finished at Classic Cars West in San Francisco. 2904 miles.
In 2013 we commemorated the original Cannonball by starting at The Redball and finishing at the Portofino in Redondo Beach. 2811 miles.
The Drivers
Each Vehicle is allowed up to four drivers with valid driver’s licenses and health insurance. (Having a team with long haul driving experience is recommended. If you can get Dan Gurney to drive your crapmobile, go for it!) All drivers must be on board for the whole distance.
The Bolian Clause
After Ed Bolian blew the top off The 2904 Cannonball Edition in 2015 with his dead hooker AMG Mercedes (like none of us saw that coming), and convinced The South to rise up in Axis power super sedans, we are going back to old school ‘70s Cannonball basics.
* Only pre-OBD II cars, unless granted special dispensation by the organizers. Don’t know what came before OBD II? Ask your grandpa.
* All electronics are now included in the $2904 budget. Say goodbye to your NASA command centers and weapons grade countermeasures, bitches!
The Prize
Eternal glory in the annals of autodom, and your place immortalized on The 2904 Crappy Trophy (tm).