Don't try this at home; Hell Drivers open Du Quoin State Fair after parade
"I never take ANYTHING for granted," says Johnny Wisner as he and sidekick Jim Moreau off-loaded stunt cars into the middle of the half-mile track at the Du Quoin State Fair earlier this week.
Losing an eye when his head hit the center steering wheel bolt at the age of 23 helped galvanize his caution through the next 39 years of stunt driving, most recently for Tonny Petersen's Hell Drivers, who perform Friday, Saturday and Sunday night on opening weekend.
"The eye's there. I just can't see through it," Wisner smiles, one of six performers and an announcer in the show. They include Tonny Petersen, age 78, Johnny Wisner, Jim "Crash" Moreau, Justin Bellinger, Terry Gappa, Billy Bishop and Johnathan Balutis-Brown, the announcer.
Does the show keep evolving or is it the best it can be?
"It's the best it can be and you don't want to make changes that mess things up," says Wisner.
Timing is everything when cars are jumping over school buses, jumping through hoops of fire and weaving in and out of each other in a game of "Chicken!" on the east side of the half-mile track.
Grandstands were set up earlier this week, but more seating was brought in as interest in the show grows.
Tonny Petersen's Hell Drivers is one of the last traveling thrill shows around. Petersen himself regularly performs.
It's a 70-minute high-energy show that mixes comedy with danger and forces spectators to view from the edge of their seats. A Dodge Dakota pickup truck is driven and balanced on only two wheels. Bumper clicking precision driving is performed in a fleet of late-model Dodge Avengers.
Deliberate car crashes, track side comedy antics by a daredevil clown and more provides entertainment and never-stop action packed in the family-friendly setting.
The opening show is at 8 p.m. on Friday after the 6 p.m. Du Quoin State Fair twilight parade and 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. All of the shows are FREE.
"I wanted to be a brain surgeon. My parents wanted me to do this," Wisner says. "Justin (the show clown) says they told me to 'go play on the yellow line'."
Wisner was formerly of the King Kovaz Auto Daredevils. Their over-the-road schedule of between 20 and 30 venues a year is grueling. "Younger guys wouldn't make it. It's nothing like it used to be."
He has a particular interest in the death of the late Ted Horn, killed in an October 1948 race car crash in Du Quoin and has spoken to his daughter. He has keepsakes from Ted Horn's career and knows all about racing, but prefers stunt driving to race car driving.
As the show unfolds in Du Quoin, the ramps are higher and the sights, sounds, and smells that have entertained generations of families at state and county fairs across America have been rejuvenated with a sense of heritage far greater than any other production has achieved in recent years.
It's high speed driving at its best.
Originally from Copenhagen, Denmark: Tonny Petersen has spent a lifetime entertaining. Tonny's career started at an early age with the Jack Kochman Hell Drivers. When starting out with the Kochman troupe, Tonny began to perfect the difficult art of driving a brand new 1964 Dodge automobile on two wheels. Tonny introduced this feat to thousands upon thousands of spectators at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. After the Kochman Hell Drivers closed their doors in the 1980's, Petersen starred in a number of automobile thrill productions and utilized his driving skills for motion pictures for the remainder of the decade. In 1990, Tonny started a 13-year streak as the stunt coordinator and star driver of Charlie Belknap's Hollywood Stunt Show--a major thrill show unit that was sponsored by Toyota Motor Manufacturing for 11 years. Tonny has called upon a team of the greatest drivers in the business to ride along side him in high speed precision driving maneuvers, elevated ramp jumps, 180 degree reverse spins, and tricky two wheel driving.