The series makes several changes in order to make the whole "past trying to prevent changes" factor more supernatural. However, in the novel, the events are not out of the ordinary, but a series of constant and strange coincidences like Jake falling sick, getting a flat tire, the car breaking down or having a tree blocking a street.
One of the girls in Jake's English class is named Carrie, a reference to Stephen King's 1974 debut novel.
After Jake leaves the motel, he passes a sign that says Interstate 60 is coming in 1961. There is not and never has been an Interstate 60.
This isn't the first role where Kevin J. O'Connor, the "Yellow Card Man," runs into a time traveler. His first big movie role was in Peggy Sue Got Married. Coincidentally, like Jake in the TV version of 11.22.63, Peggy Sue also traveled back to the year 1960. It was in that year that she considered O'Connor's character, Michael Fitzsimmons, as a potential suitor.
According to the fake ID that Al gives to Jake, James Amberson's date of birth is September 21, 1924. In reality, Stephen King was born on September 21, 1947.