Tom Cruise is ready to get back behind the wheel for the Days of Thunder sequel – and he even asked the NASCAR CEO if he could take part in a real race.
Cruise played rookie NASCAR driver Cole Trickle in the hit 1990 movie he co-wrote and will revive the role in a sequel starring Ann Hathaway due to be released in 2028.
NASCAR is once again heavily involved in the project, which it hopes will provide the sport with a cultural and publicity boost, just as the original did over three decades ago.
Cruise attended the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race at Daytona International Speedway in August when the new movie was announced where he spoke to drivers ahead of the race.
He also spoke to CEO Steve O’Donnell, who has now revealed the 63-year-old daredevil asked if he could take part in a real race in NASCAR’s fourth-tier ARCA Series in a shocking request unlikely to come to fruition.
O’Donnell revealed to Front Office Sports: ‘I was shocked. He said – we have an ARCA racing series, which is kind of our national touring series. But Tom wanted to go race in one of those.
Tom Cruise asked the NASCAR CEO about the possibility of driving in a real race
Cruise was back at a recent NASCAR race where he met with and spoke to drivers in August
Cruise will star alongside Anne Hathaway in a long-awaited Days of Thunder sequel in 2028
‘I’m not sure that’s going to happen, but he wants it to be as authentic as it can be. We’ll still see how the storylines, but all that’s playing out right now.’
Discussing NASCAR’s hopes for the new movie, O’Donnell added: ‘Yeah, I think if you look at the first one, it showcased what NASCAR was at the time.
‘And so in talking to Tom Cruise when he was at Daytona, it’s all about where we are today and going forward.
‘It’s embracing, instead of a car being put together back in a garage, embracing the technology, embracing everything that goes into the sport.
‘Tom’s message to us was, I’m going to put you in front of an entirely new audience and you need to be ready.
‘And so there’s some things that we’ll work together on, do people understand the point system? How does the chase work? How long are your races?
‘All of these things kind of to make sure that a new fan who may come out to the racetrack understands because for us, this is a whole new open door for us to bring new fans.’
Cruise starred as fictional NASCAR driver Cole Trickle in the Days of Thunder movie in 1990
Cruise is highly unlikely to run an ARCA race but his passion for the project remains very clear
Cruise has said he wants the sequel to ‘give the audience that opportunity to understand what it is as a team, as a community, what it is for NASCAR, and the speed, the excitement and all that danger and stuff.’
‘It’s not just about racing,’ he said. ‘It’s about the community and the people here.
‘There’s something very special about racers and the whole community. It’s a culture, and I was very proud to be able to reflect that in the first Days of Thunder, and I am honored to share it with the world.’
