2002 TireRack One Lap of America

Now let’s get serious. In recent years the Cannonball/Car and Driver One Lap of America has, in the minds of veteran competitors, lost a bit of its traditional bite. Shorter routes, easier tracks, better weather, etc. have contributed to more relaxed tours around the United States.

That has changed. For 2002 we’re adding some bite to the old dog; a longer, tougher route set earlier in the spring and for the first time in years, a dirt oval at Tulsa Speedway for the real honchos in the crowd. (For the weenies, it’ll be relatively smooth, without fences and won’t be run in the event of rain.) And we’ll run the famed Indianapolis Raceway Park drag strip, home of the US Nationals, the biggest NHRA event of them all, plus IRP’s excellent road course. We’ll run new tracks at Continental Divide Raceway outside Denver and Sandia, New Mexico as well as old favorites like Road Atlanta, Texas World Speedway and Summit Point.

Better yet, with major promotion from High Falls Brewing, competitors can expect giant crowds in Rochester for the start and finish, which will produce increased coverage and help generate team sponsorships.

There are other so-called endurance racing events that vaguely resemble this event, but they are pale imitations. There is only one Cannonball Car and Driver One Lap of America. The faint of heart need not apply.

- Brock Yates

The Car and Driver One Lap of America began in 1984 as a 8600 mile road rally circumnavigating the United States. It has evolved into an event that features legal-speed transit sections with high-speed time trial competition at some of America’s most challenging racetracks. The seven-day event is open to anyone with some driving experience, a valid driver’s license, and a street legal vehicle. There are 10 classes including every type of car, from economy cars, vintage cars, near-wrecks, to the current high-performance sports cars.

Brock Yates, of Car and Driver magazine, started this event as a successor to the infamous Cannonball Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, run 7 times through the 1970’s, to enjoy the roads and racetracks of America. In the 15 years of One Lap, 3000 entrants have competed at 30 racing venues, logged some 10,000,000 miles, and driven some of the country’s finest highways, in great cars, strange ones, against some of the world’s great drivers.

Once a road rally that circumnavigated the United States, the Michelin One Lap of America has evolved into an event that features legal-speed transit sections, with competition taking place at famous race tracks across the United States. Media and/or public relations events are also held at dealerships, or as part of
civic celebrations.

The 1999 Michelin One Lap of America will be run from May 16-May 22. The start and finish will take place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, headquarters to Car and Driver magazine. One Lap will challenge an estimated 100 entries with a total of 14 competitive high-speed, time-trial and bracket drag racing events.

Transit sections, which total 4,200 miles, will utilize roads of the Central, Western and Eastern United States with vehicles restricted to legal highway speeds.

One Lap also raises the awareness of, and is used as a catalyst for donations to several different charities. Among them are Ronald McDonald Children's Charities (RMCC), The National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), Laps To Conquer MS, Inc. (LCMS), Transplant Recipients International Organization (TRIO) and various Ronald McDonald Houses.

With a 24-hour-a-day format, the Michelin One Lap of America qualifies as one of the most unique and difficult events in all of motorsports. Comments One Lap creator Brock Yates, "In my mind, anyone who even takes on the challenge is a winner! It’s akin to an entire racing season in a week!"

Brock Yates is one of the best-known, most respected automotive journalists in the world, achieving recognition in the fields of magazine writing, books, screenwriting and television.

He is Editor-at-Large and featured columnist for Car and Driver magazine. He is also a commentator on the new Speedvision motorsports cable network.

Yates is the former winner of the Ken Purdy Award for Automotive Journalism, Playboy magazine award for editorial excellence, and numerous other journalism prizes. He has written extensively for Playboy, LIFE, Sports Illustrated, American Heritage, Reader's Digest, Boating, American Spectator, and the Washington Post Sunday Magazine.

From 1984 to 1992, Brock co-hosted the award-winning sports series, The American Sports Cavalcade and hosted his own show, The Great Drivers on TNN. He also worked as a CBS Sports color commentator from 1976 to 1984. As an expert on the automotive industry he has appeared on several major TV shows, including Today, The Tonight Show, CBS Morning News and This Week with David Brinkley.

He wrote the screenplays for The Cannonball Run and Smokey and the Bandit II, both starring Burt Reynolds. Brock recently completed a made-for-television screenplay for Universal Studios.

Yates' books include The Decline and Fall of the American Automobile Industry, Dead in the Water, Sunday Driver, Enzo Ferrari, The Critical Path and his most recent, Outlaw Machine, to be released in 1999 by Little Brown, about the social history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

He is the originator and organizer of the famed Cannonball Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash and the more recent internationally-recognized One Lap of America endurance event.

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