Yahoo Autos Diesel BMW Driver Smashes Solo Coast-to-Coast Cannonball Record
Ever since the inaugural runs helmed by Brock Yates and Steve Smith in the early 1970s, the Cannonball Run has remained a canonical bit of automotive lore. The high-speed cross-country trips have become increasingly popular over the last decade or so, with the COVID pandemic returning some ludicrously fast sprints from New York to Los Angeles. And while those empty road records will be hard to beat, Chris Stowell of Las Vegas, Nevada, just broke every pre-pandemic record by himself. In a diesel-powered BMW no less.
Like many enthusiasts, Stowell’s interest in the Cannonball Run ramped up during the global pandemic. Stuck inside without much to do, Stowell began to follow the escapades of folks like Alex Roy, Ed Bolian, Arne Toman, and Doug Talbot. Following the latter pair's record-setting run, that interest only grew. Stowell was no stranger to long-distance hauls himself, spending the pandemic commuting back and forth from Nevada to Tennessee to visit his now wife. Stowell has also made a habit of taking his kids for long treks across the American West, using the cover of night to get his kids from attraction to attraction. Stowell told Road & Track that his familiarity with a huge portion of the U.S. interstate system made the endeavor a bit easier to swallow.
General consensus says a fast car is a must for the Cannonball, but Stowell picked a less-than-traditional steed. Despite coming from a line of Audi S6 models, Stowell was convinced to purchase a 2015 BMW 535d by a buddy with an E90-generation diesel 3 Series of his own. The car isn’t exactly stock, with a stage 2 tune removing most of its factory emissions controls. An ECU tune brought output to around 400 hp and 560 lb-ft of torque, allowing for great passing power on the highway. A series of aftermarket fuel cells were installed before settling on the final unit, which was outfitted with some tank foam to limit fuel sloshing. This cut a few gallons out of the tank, but left Stowell with around 40 gallons of total capacity. An Insta360 radar detector was the main piece of anti-cop hardware, but Stowell didn’t run the several units we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in these cars. He told R&T that he plans to continue driving this BMW, and didn’t want to tear up the interior for this challenge. His custom mounting for the unit drew inspiration from a different film-famous BMW.
“You know The Transporter with Jason Statham?” said Stowell. “I was pretty much going for that look and feel, if you think back to the first one when he actually had the 7 Series.”
The BMW made an attempt at the Cannonball last year, but a blown tire midway ended the run. Stowell switched the car to a square stance for this year’s attempt, packing a spare tire and an inflator kit as backup.
Stowell began the run from the Red Ball Garage at around 2:00 a.m., making quick time through New York. He quickly ran into a check engine light in New Jersey, related to the car’s fueling system. After a roadside restart, Stowell determined the car would continue to cooperate if he stayed away from large throttle inputs. He pushed along with much drama until daybreak, when the commuters started to take interest in his behavior. One driver in Oklahoma called ahead to the local police, who made sure to stop Stowell. A borrowed cruiser and a wonky computer prevented Stowell from getting a ticket, but he’d lost around 15 minutes to the officer.
The real struggles came after nightfall, when the tiredness really started to set in. There was a time when the fatigue started to become too much, and Stowell debated a brief 30-minute nap. That would have been the prudent thing to do in the name of safety. Deciding against that ultimately allowed him to snag the records.
“What I did was take Five Hour Energy,” Stowell told R&T. “It was getting to the point where it was pretty bad, where it was happening pretty often that I would fall asleep a little bit. Five Hour Energy takes time, and it did take a little time to kick in. So there was this dangerous or risky portion where you ask if you keep pushing. Around that time, I had to do one last fuel stop. I got out of the car and kinda stretched, and that woke me up. That’s where I got my second wind to go into it.”
A traffic-free L.A. allowed Stowell to reach the Portofino Inn in just 27 hours and 16 minutes. That time absolutely smashed the previous verified solo record of 27 hours 54 minutes set by Carl Dietz in a Cadillac ATS back in April 2020. Stowell also beats the pre-COVID overall record of 27 hours 25 minutes set by current record holders Toman, Talbot, and Chadwick. He managed to do this by averaging a speed of 105 mph, with a top speed of 151 mph. He also had the benefit of only needing to refuel every 800 miles or so, owing to averaging around 23 mpg during the attempt.
In June 2020, Fred Ashmore claimed to have driven the route solo in just 25 hours and 55 minutes behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang GT. The validity of that run was questioned following an issue with the metadata provided by Ashmore, which appeared to be doctored.
“When I woke up after, it was an unbelievable feeling,” Stowell said. “Just to make it through all of the stuff, the tiredness, the cars, the trucks. I really had to sit back in awe in a lot of ways, just to think of what actually happened in the last 27 hours.”
Cannonballer and VINWiki founder Ed Bolian had high praise for Stowell and his efforts in the diesel BMW.
“One of the greatest joys and blessings of my life has been the explosion of passion and enthusiasm of the Cannonball community in this decade following my record, Bolian told R&T. “The diversity of claims — EV times, round trip records, diesel, solo, autonomous, farcical competitive events in terrible cars, alternative routes, and more. Seeing this run without dozens of spotter cars, purely as a bucket list exercise, and with nods to so many great drives is as heartwarming as it is astonishing for me. Beating the previous solo times, diesel times, and the rest of the claims apart from the COVID era is a huge accomplishment. It is only eclipsed by the feat of continuing to maintain the immaculate safety record the pursuit has and that is what I am most grateful for.”
While Stowell wasn’t quite able to best the overall Cannonball Record of 25 hours 39 minutes, he has moved the goal post for post-COVID runs. He hasn’t quite decided if he’ll take it on again, as there’s no one left to beat. For the time being, that is.
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