Grand Detour of Western Illinois

Grand Detour of Western Illinois
Location	Quincy, Illinois
Races	TM Master Cup Series Round of Quincy TM Lights

The Grand Detour of Western Illinois is a half-mile short track located in Quincy, Illinois. Originally built as a dirt track in 1969, it was paved in 1974 and has become a mainstay of the TM Master Cup Series, despite being nicknamed the "Death Bowl" because of its high speeds and frequent crashes. Fortunately, despite its nickname and antiquated design, modern safety improvements to the race cars themselves has reduced the risk of injuries to drivers in recent decades.

Grand Detour notably does not have concrete walls around most of the racing surface to this day, instead having a metal guardrail that stretches from Turn 1 to Turn 4 along the outside of the racing surface. The banking of the turns frequently causes cars to be launched over the guardrail, so a large grass run-off area is in place between the guardrail, and the concrete wall and catchfence in front of the grandstands; the grandstands are set several hundred feet away from the track. Other dangers of the track include the angled opening in the backstretch wall to accommodate the infield access road, and the end of the concrete pit wall between the entrances to Turn 3 and pit road.

The track currently hosts the Master Cup Round of Quincy and the TM Lights series, and previously held races for many other series, including the TM Junior Series, FARC Lowe Dollar Series, FARC Truck Series, RROL Elite Series, Continental Racing League, and BAAR Super Pro Series.