The land between Chicago and Interstate 70 to the south are filled with…well, being quite honest, small old towns that seem to be surviving just barely but have character for miles, and corn as far as your eye can see. Central Illinois isn’t exactly the Plains, but it’s not too far removed from the expanses of Kansas, if I’m being honest. There are sections that are 2×4 flat, where you can watch a developing thunderstorm roll across the land from a safe distance. This is land filled with old barns, old houses, and old memories that somehow seem nearly a century removed from where we are today…okay, maybe only fifty years removed, but removed all the same. It’s a fantastic place to go if you want to distance yourself from technology and the busy world, a place where farming is still a proud vocation.
It’s also a place filled with good ol’ boy types, big trucks and plenty of room to run’em, so seeing truck pulling footage from the region isn’t a shock. If you don’t think that plowboys won’t hook up and pull the sled along, I’ve got news for you: the truck could still be wearing the dealer tag on it and the chain will go on it. There isn’t much going on in Illinois that doesn’t involve food, drink, a romp in the sack or the tax man coming to fleece your wallet for every last cent, so a bit of automotive fun is always in order. And that means that things break. A lot of things break, especially in a motorsport that treats the U-joint like a fuse. And if that’s all you popped, feel lucky…some of these folks did a lot more than that!
With all the fires and broken parts, the drivers need to be wearing helmets and fire suits.