The movie "Cannonball Run" was based on the 5th - and last - running of the Cannon Ball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, in which Yates teamed with Hal Needham to race a 150-MPH van converted to be an ambulance, Yates' wife Pamela Reynolds riding on the gurney as ambulance. They didn't finish, but Yates wrote the screenplay, Needham directed the movie, and both appeared in cameo roles.