# Inside the 31-Hour Cannonball Run with David Maher

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/off-the-racing-line-7290395/inside-the-31-hour-cannonball-run-with-david-maher
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/off-the-racing-line-7290395/inside-the-31-hour-cannonball-run-with-david-maher.md
Podcast: [Off The Racing Line](https://stenobird.com/podcast/off-the-racing-line-7290395)
Published: 2026-07-14T15:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/offtheracingline/episodes/Inside-the-31-Hour-Cannonball-Run-with-David-Maher-e3lss2f
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/1033f5c88/podcast/play/122629647/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-10%2F427685674-44100-2-2be2fb2a14ecb.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/off-the-racing-line-7290395/episodes/inside-the-31-hour-cannonball-run-with-david-maher
Duration seconds: 3252

## Resource

David Maher is back — and this time, we’re going deep into one of the wildest chapters of his motorsports life.In Episode 33 of Off The Racing Line, our very first guest returns as the first repeat guest in the history of the show. The main story: David’s legendary 2006 cross-country Cannonball run with Alex Roy.Together, they drove a heavily modified BMW E39 M5 from New York to Los Angeles in just 31 hours and 4 minutes, setting a transcontinental record that stood for seven years.But this wasn’t just about driving fast.It was a full-scale tactical operation involving fuel cells, police scanners, thermal night vision, spotter aircraft, route planning, legal risk analysis, sleep deprivation, and the kind of mental pressure most drivers will never experience.David takes us inside the run from the co-driver’s seat:• Why Alex Roy chose him for the attempt• How they divided the driving and legal risk• What it was like sustaining extreme speeds across the country• How they managed fatigue without sleep• The close calls, fear, and decision-making behind the wheel• Why David may have been the more aggressive driver• What the record meant then — and how he views it now• How later Cannonball teams pushed the limits even furtherWe also look beyond the record and into David’s long, colorful life in racing and high-performance driving.With more than 20 years in HPDE and motorsports, David has survived more than a few serious brushes with death — including a motorcycle crash, a violent accident in a Porsche 930 Turbo, and most recently, a skiing accident that left him with a fractured vertebra.This episode is fast, intense, funny, and honest.It’s about speed, risk, preparation, survival, and what drives certain people to keep chasing the edge long after most would have backed away.…

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