The list of names Joe Dirt reads on the tour bus are the same as the ones a teacher called for attendance in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).
When the hot air balloon comes down near the oil derrick, a sign with "Scotch Oil" on it is seen. Scotch Oil was the name of David Spade's friend Chris Farley's family oil business in Wisconsin.
Roseanne Barr and Gary Busey were originally cast as Joe Dirt's parents. However, Roseanne mysteriously quit the project one day after creating months of delay, re-editing and re-shoots, so director Dennie Gordon decided to re-shoot the scene with Caroline Aaron and Fred Ward.
The hardtop that Joe Dirt drove throughout most of the movie is a replica of a 1969 Dodge Daytona, a limited production car built for only one year during the muscle car era of the late sixties and early seventies. Only five hundred three of the real Daytonas were ever built.
David Spade and Fred Wolf wanted Christopher Walken for the part of Clem so much that when the production couldn't afford him, they paid his salary out of their own pockets. After a successful first test screening, studio head Amy Pascal sent Spade and Wolf a check for what they originally paid.