- The speaking voice for 'Rusty Nail' was provided by Ted Levine, most famous for portraying 'Buffalo Bill' in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
- Three different versions of the ending were shot.
- Eric Stoltz and Eric Roberts auditioned for the role of "Rusty Nail".
- During the opening credits, when the camera pans around Paul Walker's room, a toy model of the car is visible on the dresser.
- As Lewis is looking at his map in the car, his finger follows the road from Red Rock past Green River and down SW. Director John Dahl's earlier motel based thriller was Red Rock West (1993).
- In one scene, a seemingly maniacal ICE truck pulls up to a gas station that the brothers have pulled up to. In _Duel (1971/I) (TV)_, a likewise maniacal truck pulls up to our hero (David Mann) and a small billboard for ICE is visible in the background.
- During the course of the movie, watch the LED signal strength indicator lights on the brothers' CB radio. The first four indicator lights change colors in nearly every scene, including bright green, dark green, yellow, red, and crimson. This is obviously intentional and not a series of continuity errors.
- To avoid the unpleasant effects of having to remove Scotch tape from Leelee Sobieski's hair and skin after the take, she was tied up with a strong, thick plastic film (like thick Saran Wrap) which looked like tape and stuck almost like tape, but which was glueless, making its removal simple and fuss-free.
- Was renamed 'Road Kill' in the UK, since taking a 'Joy Ride' is not the pleasant journey it is in the states, rather the name for when youths steal cars and race each other or the cops and eventually total and dump the car.
- The car they are driving is a 1971 Chrysler Newport.
- Although Ted Levine provides Rusty Nail's voice, he actually wasn't brought in until post-production, and, physically, Rusty Nail is played by the hulking actor Matthew Kimbrough.
- Leelee Sobieski ended up filming two different romantic interludes, one with Steve Zahn and one with Paul Walker during the shooting and re-shooting of the film. Both scenes ended up getting cut.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: In the ending where Rusty Nail's truck explodes, you can see a water tower behind the truck as it burns. The original intention was to have the truck hit the water tower and have the water come down and put the flames out so that it would be believable if Rusty Nail survived. However, time constraints kept the scene from being filmed. The water tower cost over $100,000.
- SPOILER: The ending that was chosen for the final cut is the only ending in which Rusty Nail lives.
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