Welcome to the black hole of on road racing in the Midwest.
I too have been to Danville, and Chicago, and Trackside, and now Indy. Indy now has a new carpet track on the SE side that is really nice. Even that is a 2hr drive for me though. There is also parking lot racing in the summer in Indy but still a drive for me.
I gave up on hoping for local tracks and just decided to either put in the miles or not race. I also run nitro on road in the summer in the Midwest Series so I'm used to traveling. Peoria would also be a drive for me but I'd be willing to come over and check it out if you got something going. I'm sure some of the Quad Cities guys would come down also.
I've run at all the tracks Gary listed, I wish they were all still here too. I especially miss Bloomington as that was much closer for me than anywhere I go now. Keep us posted on your progress if you decide to go forward with starting a club in Peoria.
Rick