TWINSBURG, Ohio - An exotic car dealer in Twinsburg made history last month when he and two other thrill seekers barreled across the United States, coast to coast at speeds reaching 180 mph in a souped up Mercedes, logging more than 2,800 miles in little more than a day.

Their mad dash from New York to Los Angeles is known as the “Cannonball Run,” an unsanctioned, obviously illegal undertaking immortalized by Hollywood in the early 1980s by a movie of the same name.

The once multi-car race has since transformed into a time trial of sorts, periodically attempted by a loose confederation of enthusiasts who keep the movement alive. And Doug Tabbutt, 34, of Twinsburg, and Arne Toman, 44, of Chicago set a new time record with their early November run.

Their time: 27 hours and 25 minutes, breaking the previous Cannonball record of 28 hours and 50 minutes set in 2013.

Their story is one of intense planning, extreme gumption, and a healthy dose of restraint, which may seem counter-intuitive when speed is of the essence. But when it comes to flying down a highway at break-neck speed and trying not to be detected, letting up on the gas can be as important as punching the accelerator to the floor.

“Cannonballing is a lot about finesse,” said Toman during a recent interview at Tabbutt’s car garage in Twinsburg. “It’s just getting smoothly and quickly through traffic.”

Tabbutt and Toman embarked on their journey in the wee hours of Nov. 10 and brought along Berkeley Chadwick, 22, to spot for cops and to help with navigation.

Tabbutt was Chadwick’s Bible study leader at Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, but he chuckles at the notion that he led his young charge astray be recruiting him into the world of Cannonball.

“He’s an adult,” Tabbutt said. “He can make his own decisions.”

When Tabbutt and company pulled up to the finish at the Portofino Hotel and Marina in Los Angeles in the wee hours of Nov. 11, the moment was almost anticlimactic.

“There’s no fanfare.” Toman said. “There’s no one waiting for you.” And that begs the question, how can they prove they did what they did?

“We had over a dozen people watching our GPS tracking in livestream throughout the course of the run,” Tabbutt said. “Some of them watched nearly all of it.”

They also have time-stamped photos and video, plus the word of numerous scouts deployed along the route to provide reconnaissance and other assistance.

Road & Track magazine was the first to report the feat in a story Dec. 3.

Inside the car

Preparation is everything for undertaking a Cannonball Run. Toman was responsible for modifying the high-end 2015 Mercedes. He boosted the engine and installed a 45-gallon auxiliary fuel tank in the trunk.

He had the car fitted with a suite of electronic “counter measures” designed to avoid getting pulled over by the police. They included radar detectors and gadgets that defuse the light beam on a laser gun to prevent the police from getting a read on a speeding vehicle.

A thermal scope mounted on the roof could detect the heat signature of a police car on the side of the road or a deer getting ready to bolt onto the highway. Two pair of stabilizing binoculars were especially helpful as they could home in on images nearly two miles out.

Toman also removed all the Mercedes markings from the outside of the vehicle and painted the carbon-fiber trim silver to make the car look non-descript.

Doug Tabbutt (left), Arne Toman (driving) and Berkeley Chadwick (in the back) heading west from Denver during their record setting Cannonball Run.

Planning the trip

The Cannonball Run begins at the Red Ball Garage in Manhattan and participants can choose their own route. Tabbutt and Toman took Interstate 80 – skirting Cleveland around 4 a.m. – all the way to Colorado. They then veered southwest on I-76 to Denver, west on I-70 into Utah and southwest again along I-15 to Las Vegas and then Los Angeles.

All three had the benefit of experience, having taken the same route earlier in the year as part of the C2C Express, a cross-country race that serves as a “tribute” to the multi-car Cannonball races, the last run in 1979.

In the C2C Express, all the cars had to be pre-1980 models and purchased for less than $3000. Tabbutt said. Modifications, however, were unlimited and Tabbutt recalls spending thousands on modifications to the engine, brakes and exhaust.

That race provided useful intelligence, including the best places to stop for gas. It was Tabbutt’s job to handle the logistics. He figured the modified Mercedes could go about 600 miles before needing to refuel, and he chose stations just off the highway and with no traffic lights to slow them down.

Scouts in 18 different vehicles relayed information about traffic congestion and construction delays. In a couple cases, they ran interference at a gas station so the Mercedes would have unimpeded access to the pumps.

Inside the car

Tabbutt and Toman took turns driving and averaged 103 mph for the entire trip. They topped 180 miles per hour about ten times, but only on the open road and usually at night.

And they were not pulled over.

Not once.

Tabbutt said it’s as important to be courteous to other drivers as it is to move on down the road, and that means no tailgating.

“We take stock of people’s driving as we’re coming up on them,” he said, and if somebody doesn’t get the hint to move over, the tactic is to slow down and pass on the right.

A couple times, Tabbutt and company had reason to worry. In one instance, the Mercedes blew past a police car that caught them on radar although surprisingly the officer failed to pursue, perhaps because the car was low on gas or the officer was nearing the end of his shift, Tabbutt said.

Another time, shortly after crossing into Iowa, the police scanner in the Mercedes sounded a warning to be on the lookout for a silver passenger car. That prompted Tabbutt to ease up on the accelerator through the rest of the state.

“We were never chased nor would we run if we were because that’s just asking for trouble,” Tabbutt said.

At one point – Tabbutt believes it was while passing through Des Moines - a Pontiac GTO with a loud exhaust challenged the Mercedes to a race. The driver of the Pontiac would hit the gas expecting Tabbutt to follow suit, but instead he did just the opposite, slowing down until the driver of the GTO gave up.

“First and foremost we don’t want to endanger anybody,” Toman said. “We have families. We understand. We don’t want to hurt somebody else. We don’t want to hurt ourselves. And also if we’re driving completely recklessly everyone’s got a cell phone. They’re just going to call the police and they’re just going to be waiting for us.”

Heading toward the lights of Las Vegas on a record-setting Cannonball Run.

In his blood

Tabbutt estimates there are maybe 100 serious Cannonball enthusiasts around the country willing to make the coast -to-coast run, and many more that are just jazzed by the whole concept. His obsession with cars and speed began at an early age growing up in Maine. His book reports in English class were always about cars, he said, and he pestered his parents to take him to car shows.

“My dad was into boats and building houses and I just wanted to go fast,” Tabbutt said.

His fascination never let up after coming to Ohio in 2003 to attend Case Western Reserve University, where he studied engineering his first year. He switched his major to business, but halfway through his sophomore year he called it quits.

“I say I took the accelerated program,” he said. “I quit while I was ahead.”

Around that time, Tabbutt took an interest in long-distance racing. He drove a Honda S2000 with a police scanner and a CB radio, and like Toman, drew inspiration from the writings of Brock Yates, who initiated the first Cannonball Run in 1971.

Tabbutt has since gone into business and established himself as a racer on and off the track. His adventures have included several high-speed trips across the country, the latest being the Cannonball Run. The fact that he recently married and gained a stepson hasn’t seemed to slow him down.

His accountant wife is a “rule follower to the T,” Tabbutt said, and that’s led to many debates about the ethics and safety of charging across the country at high speeds and in a near-constant state of breaking the law.

“She’s incredibly supportive for how fundamentally opposed to the idea she is,” he said.

Tabbutt and Toman see it a different way. To them, what they do is an expression of freedom, although a form not suited for everyone. They know what they are doing is a bit crazy and against the law, but they do it in a thoughtful and controlled fashion.

“I wouldn’t do it with anyone but Arne,” Tabbutt said, “because we’re both highly trained drivers and we know how to respond to situations at that type of speed.”