Local Fireball Run team car.

The latest season of the TV series Fireball Run, which was recorded partly in Eau Claire, makes its debut Jan. 15 on Amazon Prime. The series – a combination road rally and life-sized trivia competition – began its 11th season in Eau Claire, and the city and its sights are featured prominently in several episodes. Forty teams – including one from the Chippewa Valley – departed the “green light city” in September 2017 and traveled 2,000 miles across the Midwest to Rapid City, South Dakota. The local team consisted of Luke Hanson (executive director of the Eau Claire Area Economic Development Corp.) and Julie Thoney (community service and economic development manager of Xcel), who won first place in the competition’s Alternate Fuel Class. Rather than racing from one town to the next, “Driving teams are tasked with clues which, if solved on time, lead to an array of amazing artifacts, physical challenges, and unusual experiences spanning the Midwest,” a press release stated. Offbeat destinations included the Minnesota birthplace of water skiing and the location of the real “American Gothic” in Iowa. All 30 episodes of the season are available to stream by Amazon Prime members.

The Fireball Run starting line.