Well this is an interesting story... It REALLY all started with a bottle of scotch and the guy who claimed to know Brock Yates.

Fireball Run founder J "JJ" Sanchez was (and some argue still is) a Mad Man; the title bestowed upon those mad enough to make a career in the Advertising Industry. Once a month his agency would host a cigar and cocktail reception (for those who know JJ it's no surprise he had a fully stocked bar in the conference room). The Friday @ 5 gatherings were a popular Who's Who of industry leadership. One day while visiting Orlando the CFO of a well known publication dropped in. After a while he noticed a Cannonball Run movie poster hanging in JJ's office and said "I know that guy. Brock Yates created the real Cannonball... would you like me to get you in?" to which JJ (who had never raced a day in his life, but definitely had a few to drink this day) responded "yeah I'd definitely do that... see what you can do" confident the CFO was only name dropping.

A few weeks passed and then a few months. JJ decided to call the bluff and emailed the CFO... he responded with an apology surprisingly adding Brock Yates would call immediately. Ten minutes later JJ was on the phone with former Car & Driver Editor Brock Yates who responded by calling JJ's bluff to actually compete in his motorsports series.

Brock's race however was hard core and required special training. So JJ went to racing school, followed by specialized stunt driver training, just in case. Later that Spring JJ was in the grueling motorsport competition... the Mad Man placed an earnest 74th out of 99 teams, and also took home the coveted spirit award; not bad considering never racing before.

Well JJ caught the racing bug and in following years he searched for less "terminal" events. Choices were slim; a risky endurance contest or an illegal road race. What JJ really wanted was a great motoring challenge while still enjoying the journey. A hybrid event; one that could be part motorsports, part adventure, and part rally... an event one could do without killing themselves or getting arrested. Eventually JJ concluded no such event existed so he decided to make one.

The plan was simple (or so he thought); part rally, part game, part race; a coordinated start and finish would make it a rally. Road racing would be replaced by an interactive mission and destination based game. Then track competitions were added for the adrenaline fix. With the basics in place JJ set out to invite his friends, most of whom were other business leaders. They in turn invited other business owners and a valuable social network began to take shape.

Our founder realized a group of fantastic people, with fantastic vehicles, on a fantastic journey, would likely produce fantastic media. JJ decided the rally should serve to make a difference. One purpose stood out amongst all others and the rally took on the ambitious role to aid in the recovery of America's missing children.

Three years later it finally was time to name the project, which oddly proved harder than one might think. For months JJ and his friends pondered what to call the unique adventure. Automotive journalist and friend Tom LaPointe suggested naming it in honor of a pioneering motorsports legend. Eventually the group agreed late NASCAR driver Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, America's first racing celebrity, fit the bill entirely. Fireball's wit, spirit, and passion for fans aligned with the philosophy of the rally. JJ's mentor Monte Patterson believed adding "Transcontinental" would capture the events enormity. By October 2006 the competition was christened The Fireball Run Transcontinental Rally. On Saturday September 29th 2007 sixty five teams rolled out of Orlando Florida pioneering to Beverly Hills California in a race to recover 65 missing children as part of the Inaugural Fireball Run Transcontinental Rally. Of those 65 children, 23 have since been recovered.

And the rest as they say is indeed, history.