You are invited to the 2008 Cannonball Run

The Tire Rack 2008, One Lap of America (formerly named Cannonball Run), will celebrate its 25th anniversary race around the United States and Stephen Noton along with his 451 smart for two will be apart of this historic race. The smart has only been on sale for a couple months in the USA and Canada but it has already sparked some amazing interest from all types of car enthusiasts. While most people see the smart as an economical form of transportation Stephen Noton is showing that a smart can also be a very cool and fun car to drive.Stephen Noton says "The smart is like a Ferrari, it is a 2 seater, rear wheel drive, rear mounted engine European exotic and it even beats the Ferrari in one performance metric, MPG". That is very true and with some vehicles in the One Lap of America averaging less then 10mpg the smart at 41mpg might even have an advantage during the 4,000 mile event.Stephen Noton along with his co-driver, Tony Abou-Assaleh, will be driving the 451 smart fortwo nicknamed "forfiveone" which has been modified with racing springs, wider tires and some nice interior enhancements. The car has its own website at forfiveone.com which is hosted on the 451 smart fortwo Owners & Enthusiasts website 451s.com is the dedicated page established for the smart participation in the One Lap of America.Will the smart catch on in the racing world? Well if history repeats itself as it has with owners of vehicles like the Mini Cooper, VW Beetle, and the Miata, it might not be long before we see smarts showing up at local Solo I and Solo II events. The smarts entry into the racing world will be made easier if smart Canada or smart USA brings in the smart that is sold in Europe which has some impressive performance specifications such as 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 170 all from its 999cc 3 cylinder engine (those numbers are in km)If you would like to see the One Lap of America or the forfiveone first hand you are welcome to attend anyone of the official race tracks which are posted on the One Lap of America website at onelapofamerica.com. Entrance to most tracks is free and you will even be able to access the staging/pit areas to get up close and personal with the nearly 100 exotic vehicles and their drivers.