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Car dealer claims record for cross-country Cannonball Run

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ATLANTA, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- An Atlanta luxury-car dealer claimed a record after driving from New York to the Pacific Ocean in a little more than a day.

Ed Bolian and partners Dave Black and Dan Huang last month covered the famed Cannonball Run from Manhattan to Redondo Beach, a distance of 2,803 miles, in 28 hours, 50 minutes and about 30 seconds, eclipsing the record set in 2006.

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"Everything possible went perfectly," Bolian, 28, told CNN.

The perfect conditions included a relative lack of traffic and construction slowdowns, which enabled Bolian and co-driver Black and backseat spotter Huang to cruise at an average speed of 98 mph. The top speed reached was 158 mph.

CNN said Bolian, who works for a Lamborghini dealership, selected a Mercedes CL55 AMG to make the trip. The vehicle, which already had 155,000 miles on it, was tricked out with two extra gas tanks, radar detectors and a kill switch that would shut off its tail lights in the event state troopers were in pursuit.

Bolian spent more than a year researching the most efficient routes, modifications to improve gas mileage and even the phases of the moon to provide better vision at night.

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The team enlisted a cadre of scout drivers that monitored traffic conditions and warned them of upcoming traffic and road conditions.

"I had plenty of people at home praying I'd make it safely, and, more importantly, had my wife praying that I wouldn't have to do it again," Bolian said.

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