and other auto publications worldwide. The initial cross-country run was made by Yates; his son, Brock Yates, Jr.; Steve Smith; and friend Jim Williams beginning on May 3, 1971, in a 1971 Dodge Custom Sportsman van called the "Moon Trash II." The first competitive race was won by Brock and Formula One and Le Mans winner Dan Gurney in a Sunoco blue Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona. The duo traveled from New York to Los Angeles in a then-record time of 35 hours, 54 minutes. In all, five Cannonballs were run between 1971 and 1979, although Yates never again won. The event was the inspiration for the 1976 movies Cannonball! and The Gumball Rally. The event has continued on in the form of the Tire Rack One Lap of America Presented by Grassroots Motorsport Magazine. The event is now run by his son Brock Yates, Jr. 2018 saw the 35th anniversary of the event. Screenwriting Yates along with director and stuntman Hal Needham, wrote Smokey and the Bandit II (1980). Yates also wrote the screenplay for The Cannonball Run (1981) film with the intention of giving the lead role to Steve McQueen. However, McQueen was diagnosed with cancer early in 1980 and was unable to do the film, leading to the casting of Burt Reynolds. Yates had a brief cameo in The Cannonball Run as the race organizer who lays out the ground rules before the beginning of the race. While Yates was not involved in them, The Cannonball Run was followed by one sequel using his characters, Cannonball Run II (1984), and a second sequel, Speed Zone (1989), which, apart from being about the race and a small cameo by Jamie Farr's character, had no other connections. Death Yates died in Batavia, New York, on October 5, 2016, as a result of Alzheimer's disease, sixteen days shy of his 83rd birthday. Bibliography Against Death and Time: One Fatal Season in Racing's Glory Years Cannonball!: World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race The Hot Rod: Resurrection of a Legend Enzo Ferrari: the man, the cars, the races The Critical Path NASCAR Off the Record The Indianapolis 500: The Story of the Motor Speedway Racers and Drivers The Decline and Fall of the American Automobile Industry Sunday Driver Dead in the Water The Great Driver Guide to Racing Cars Outlaw Machine: Harley-Davidson and the Search For the American Soul Umbrella Mike: The True Story