I wonder if they delay releases of these due to statute of limitations issues.
Interesting you should bring up that topic, Matt. I am aware of at least two individuals, along with their co-pilot(s) who did the run---Red Ball Garage NYC to the Portofino Inn Newport Biatch in the couple of years after the epic Yates/Gurney shot. In both of these cases, neither one beat the 35+hour Yates/Gurney time. Close, but no Corona. No LE or automotive mechanical issues either.
Under the circumstances, those involved thought it best to keep their yaps shut. When the Great Fuel Embargo and 55mph pogrom arrived in 1974, farting in public, let alone driving 20 +over would set one up for serious jail time. So discretion was, and is, simply good judgment.
A few points worth noting: in the early 70's a great deal of the route was
not Interstate. So averaging 80 per on 2-lanes was not a trivial undertaking.
Electronic countermeasures were marginal at best. Some CB, lame radar detectors. Best defense was having driven the planned route ahead of time and noted potential LE observation points.
A factor not often considered was the amount of time consumed in fueling stops; these reduce the avg speed significantly. So there was a bit of a tradeoff between over-the-road speed and a bit less velocity with better MPG. In the same vein, not getting cracked was essential. Therefore not going for big speeds proved to be a viable strategy, along with a low-visibility vehicle. In today's context, think an Altima sedan.
Averaging. Article says in some states they averaged over 120, for the entire state. Unreal. When they first did it in the 70s it sounded like fun, I did 2200 miles one time averaging 65 in the 55 days and felt like I was flying past most traffic, well, mostly because I was, but to average 40MPH more than that?