'Top Gear' cruises into downtown High Springs

Carl McKinney/Alachua County Today

Professional racecar driver Tanner Foust rolls through Main Street in High Springs, leaving a trail of smoke behind him as part of a stunt. For several minutes after he drove by, onlookers were coughing and covering their noses and mouths to protect themselves as air cleared.

 

HIGH SPRINGS – Main Street in High Springs was lined with onlookers. Some of them knew why, but some of them only knew something interesting was about to happen.

 

“All I know is it’s some TV show called ‘Top Gear’,” said a man sitting on a bench in High Springs’ historic downtown area.

 

The History Channel’s “Top Gear,” a show exploring car culture, made a stop in High Springs on Thursday, March 13 to film part of an episode focusing on the history of drag racing.  

 

After filming in Gainesville and Micanopy, the crew chose High Springs next because it kept in line with the theme of the episode, said Tabitha Lentle, co-executive producer of the show.

 

“It has that gorgeous Americana look that goes with the muscle cars we have,” she said.

 

High Springs represents what America looked like when these cars were made, she said, with high streets and little stores.

 

Around 5:30 p.m., the film crew and producers started arriving. Ambulances, police cruisers and fire engines got into positions.

 

As one producer talked to High Springs Mayor Byran Williams, he explained what the episode would be about.

 

“It’s about how drag racing evolved in America,” he told Williams.

 

Bystanders, many of them wearing Gatornationals gear, the annual National Hot Rod Association drag racing event held every March at the Gainesville Raceway, waited for something to happen.

 

As City Manager Ed Booth stood on a corner, he said the traffic was unreal. On the bright side, he said, it seems to have brought a lot of business to the local shops.

 

Three muscle cars drove through Main Street, one for each of the show’s hosts.

 

Actor and comedian Adam Ferrara drove a 1972 Dodge Charger. Professional racer and stunt driver Tanner Foust drove a 1967 Shelby Mustang. Fox Sports racing analyst Rutledge Wood drove a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro.

 

For about two hours, they drove up and down Main Street shooting various scenes. Even the audience watching didn’t seem to know what the hosts were doing.

 

When Alan DeVaney was asked if he could tell what was going on, he responded with “not a single idea.” Devaney had been following the filming of the episode on social media all week, he said.

 

They drove around the block a few times. As the hosts raced past cars on Main Street, multiple cars with a device attached to them had their alarms set off.

 

Each of the three cars drove from one end of the street toward Railroad Avenue in an apparent stunt where the back tires appeared to be smoking.

 

Host Rutledge Wood didn’t want to spoil exactly what they were doing or how the finished episode might look, wanting to preserve the element of surprise for the viewers at home. He did say they were not drag racing.

 

“We were flexing the muscle of some muscle cars,” he said.

 

Wood stuck around to pose for photos and converse with fans.

 

The smiling kids watching the filming with their parents was one of the coolest parts, Wood said.

 

“Everyone could not have been nicer,” he said. “It reminds me so much of my home town.”

 

The episode is expected to air sometime around late May.

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