Bryan Cranston was broke when he landed the guest role in this episode, having used up all his savings on a film that he wrote and directed.
Vince Gilligan is a major country and western music fan and really wanted Junior Brown to appear in the episode. (He plays the farmer that Mulder and Scully investigate at the start of the episode.) Gilligan flew Brown in at his own expense to film his scenes. Later, Gilligan had Junior Brown write and perform the theme for Better Call Saul (2015).
Although the movie Speed (1994) is clearly an inspiration for Vince Gilligan's screenplay, one of the major influences was the episode "Subway" from the sixth season of Homicide: Life on the Street (1993), one of Gilligan's favorite shows.
Bill Roe won an ASC Award from the American Society of Cinematographers for his work on this episode.
Bryan Cranston also starred in the Ryan Gosling film which shares its name with this episode, Drive (2011).