I've traveled so much in my life I believe I can now maybe qualify as a connoisseur of gas stations. So, when there's a claim that the best gas station in Illinois isn't Buc-ee's, it grabs my undivided attention. Let's explore the possibility and see if this claim might have some merit.

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I found this interesting Illinois gas station tour on YouTube which described their petroleum adventure like this:

Get ready to fuel up and unwind like never before at Wally's, the latest contender in the world of colossal gas stations! In this exciting video, we take you on a virtual tour of Wally's Mega Gas Station located in Pontiac, Illinois, the new fierce competitor to the renowned southern giant, Buc-ee's.

It is a huge facility. Wow.

Explore USA Cities via YouTube
Explore USA Cities via YouTube
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When you pull up to the main building, you see the massiveness of it all. I wonder why they didn't call themselves Wally World? (Asking for a friend)

Explore USA Cities via YouTube
Explore USA Cities via YouTube
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I was all prepared to blow off this claim of a Buc-ee's rival in Illinois until I found out they have a BBQ grill inside. You had me at hello.

Explore USA Cities via YouTube
Explore USA Cities via YouTube
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As if that weren't already enough, there's a coffee shop (with jerky) inside, too. Coffee and jerky together just isn't playing fair.

Explore USA Cities via YouTube
Explore USA Cities via YouTube
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Have you been through Pontiac, Illinois where Wally's is located? Do you think it's really a rival to the current reigning gas station king? This gas station battle could get interesting quick.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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