To experience the missions of the event navigate to the ROUTE page.
Part of the Fireball Run Adventurally & Its Race to Recover America's Missing Children Series; the 2007 Inaugural FIREBALL RUN Transcontinental Rally started September 28th in Orlando Florida and finished 9 days later October 9th in Beverly Hills California.
EVENT THEME: As the inaugural rally, the event did not have a theme. The missions and tasks were random and in most cases incorporated road side America attractions.
SPECIAL GUEST STAR: Fireball Run's first Celebrity Guest was Jeff Donovan, the star of Burn Notice. Jeff however had to leave for a few days shortly after the rally started to audition for Clint Eastwood's "The Changeling." Jeff returned to the competition in Henderson, Nevada and not only won the rally... but also won the part and Co-Starred along with Angelina Jolie in the film.
NOTABLE CAST: Jeff Donovan's Co-Driver was stunt coordinator and second unit director, Artie Malesci of James bond, Behind Enemy Lines, 2Fast2Furious, Miami Vice, Dexter, CSI Miami. Respected Hollywood car builder "Movie" Mike Walsh also entered the inaugural competition.
MOTORSPORTS ACTIVITIES: Fireball Run Transcontinental Rally incorporated two sanctioned road course track events; Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Motorsports Ranch Houston.
MILAGE & DESTINATIONS: Approximately 3500 miles. The rally traversed 55 teams, representing 55 missing children through the cities of Baton Rouge Louisiana, Beaumont Texas, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, Albuquerque New Mexico, and Henderson Nevada. Competitors also visited interactive (Passage Control) cities of Lafayette Louisiana, Dallas Texas, Amarillo Texas, Winslow Arizona, and Baker California.
THE DRAMA: See the Journals section of the 2007 teams.
TRIVIA & NOTABLE FACTS:
The 2007 FIREBALL RUN Transcontinental Rally achieved nearly 12 hours of broadcast news publicity, all of which was positive.
The actor William Shatner was originally to be the Guest Celebrity for the inaugural run. Despite many conversations between rally founder JJ Sanchez and Mr Shatner, working around Mr. Shatner proved to be too difficult as his relationship with ABC prevented him from being associated with the event.
The dance track "Like a Fireball" was written specifically about the Fireball Run by chart topping composer Jack D. Elliot. The song was co-written by Santiago with creative contribution by rally founder JJ. Sanchez. Jack is best known for his works with artists Britney Spears, N'Snyc, and Taylor Dayne.
Contrary to rumor, Fireball Run's name is not a play on the cult "Cannonball Run" movie title. Fireball Run is named in honor of late NASCAR legend Glenn "Fireball" Roberts.
A million dollar Monaco Coach raced competitively on the racetrack and in the rally by notable Hollywood car designer "Movie" Mike Walsh.
Line Producer Nate Truman (Entertainment Tonight) entered his 1960's BatMobile; Fireball Run remains the only cross country rally to feature a BatMobile.
The concept of an adventure game / rally was conceived after Fireball Run's founder, a retired Ad Agency CEO and avid rally driver, felt there was a need for a road rally which did not involve driving at dangerously negligible speeds and could still appeal to the diehard racer as well as adventure traveler. The idea was one thing and it took over 3 years to fully develop the concept before launching it in 2007.
Monte Patterson (Lamborghini Orlando) was the first person JJ revealed Fireball Run to, the second was none other than Cannonball founder and friend Brock Yates, who gave enthusiastic approval.
Fireball Run founder JJ. Sanchez and One Lap of America founder (Cannonball Run screenwriter) Brock Yates originally agreed to a cooperative and co-promotional relationship between the two events (this is why Fireball Run is opposite on the calendar of One Lap of America). However this met a fateful demise as Brock Yates Jr (current Organizer of One Lap of America), was forcefully opposed and ended the relationship. To this day JJ and Brock Yates Sr. remain friends.
Operational costs of the inaugural event exceeded 1.2 million. The event faced a $400k deficit months before its start date, forcing rally founder JJ Sanchez on his own to innovate a unique business model for the rally; the event concluded its first year in the black, with minimal sponsors, and few cities supporting.
The interactive game [play] script for the inaugural run was a mere 17 pages and included 15 missions; by contrast Fireball Run Adventurally's script now exceeds 250 pages and 1500 missions.