If you’ve ever missed your exit from a roundabout and then had to drive, slightly embarrassed, all the way around for another chance, you would probably do anything to repeat the experience. The Airborne Entertainment YouTube channel, however, enjoy it so much they deliberately driving the roundabout on a public street in the center of Tallmadge, Ohio, for a full 24 hours. Starting at precisely 8:41 a.m., the highly modified Dodge Charger would put down as many laps as possible without launching off it or causing a tornado in an effort to… I don’t know what, but it’s fun to watch and that’s all that matters, right?
The Charger, which appears to be a former fire department vehicle from its red color and the “deep orange” light bar on the roof, was further modified in several ways for the attempt. It got a full set of decals marking it as a “certified test vehicle,” including a “How’s my driving?” phone number that would put callers directly in touch with the drivers. Some took advantage of that, including UPS Joe, their biggest fan. The back window was missing for unknown reasons. Most importantly, the windshield washer was replaced with milk, including a handy dispenser in the cabin. If this seems like a terrible idea, you’re absolutely right. The milk had already soured by the beginning of the attempt, to the utter revulsion of the drivers when they tried it.
Not as easy as it looks
Driving in circles for 24 hours straight would get pretty boring, so in true “Top Gear” style, the drivers have a series of challenges they must draw randomly out of a hat every 200 laps. These include simple ones, like one of them running a lap on foot (why, yes, this does count toward the overall lap count), to more difficult ones, like driving a lap in reverse (fortunately, they drew this one in the middle of the night with no traffic). They also must refuel in the middle of the run, so they do the perfectly reasonable thing and lean out the back window with a fuel jug to do it on the fly. Maybe NASCAR should consider this.
At precisely 8:41 a.m. the following day, their task is complete. They traveled 488.9 miles while completing 1,809 laps of the roundabout, surprisingly without any police intervention. While their time obliterates the current official record at Record Setter (the original being set in 2015 by Oran Sands from Oppositelock), they also broke almost every rule in the process. Their pit stop style tire rotation took seven minutes, and they were only allowed to stop for one minute to swap passengers. They also swapped drivers, which isn’t allowed, nor is refueling. They may or may not have broken a traffic law. But they weren’t trying for a record. They were out for a good time and to make a fun video, and they succeeded.
