Don Siegel had 25 years earlier been a mentor to Sam Peckinpah, who at this time was all-but banished from the industry due to his troubled film productions. Siegel gave the director a chance to return to filmmaking. He asked Peckinpah if he would be interested in directing 12 days of second unit work on this film. Peckinpah immediately accepted, and his earnest collaboration with his longtime friend was noted within the industry. While Peckinpah's work was uncredited, it would lead to his hiring as the director of his final film The Osterman Weekend (1983).
The scene where the trailer is pushed over the cliff begins in the middle of the night. As the vehicle heads over the edge it is pitch dark. Moments later, as the hero leaves the scene it is inexplicably broad daylight. Given the illegal nature of the event it is unlikely he would have stayed at the site for hours until sunrise.