Couple drive ‘Fast’ car

FOX LAKE – As millions across the country flocked last weekend to see the fourth installment in “The Fast and the Furious” movie series, two Lake County residents got a hands-on introduction to the film.

“Fast & Furious” was released Friday. After filming of the movie was completed, Volo Auto Museum in Volo acquired the 1970 Camaro that was used in the film.

And in a first for the museum, which owns a number of vehicles used in movies, a contest was held for a chance to drive the high-profile vehicle down a half-mile stretch of road –
from the Volo museum to the Fox Lake Theatre on the day the film opened.

Krystal Lesniak of Waukegan won the contest but determined beforehand that she was going to give the prize to her fiancé, Franklin Vazquez, if she won. Even after the realization of winning had sunk in, she stuck to her guns and passed the keys to Vazquez, also of Waukegan.

“I knew if they didn’t let me split it, it’d be his,” Lesniak said.

As it turned out, she was allowed to split the prize. Vazquez drove the car to the theater, and Lesniak drove it back to the auto museum after the couple got a free viewing of the film on opening night.

Vazquez, a longtime fan of the movie series, said he had a hard time believing his luck when he found out Lesniak had won the contest.

“It was nice,” he said of the drive. “I was so focused. I just didn’t want to wreck it. ... I’ve driven an ’89 Monte Carlo, but nothing like that.”

When an e-mail was sent to Lesniak announcing that she was the grand-prize winner, she almost did not open the message, Vazquez said.

“At first when she saw it, she thought it was spam,” he said.

Jay Grams, owner of the Volo Auto Museum, said entries in the contest came from across the country. He accompanied Vazquez and Lesniak on their once-in-a-lifetime drives.

“[Vazquez] kept pulling wheelies, but I told him he had to stop,” Grams joked.

James Roe, general manager of the Fox Lake Theatre, said he was happy to have the theater play a part in the contest.

“This ain’t no slouch of a car,” Roe said. “It’s a little piece of Hollywood in our little town of Fox Lake.”

Before her turn at the wheel of the car, Lesniak said she did not plan to let the experience ruin her clean driving record.

“I have never gotten a speeding ticket,” she said.