NASCAR’s had a few surreal moments over the years — the flying mullet that was Tim Richmond, Darrell Waltrip dancing on national TV, or the fact that Ross Chastain once drove head-first into a wall on purpose and somehow came out a hero.
But nothing — nothing — holds a candle to the fever dream that was Days of Thunder, the 1990 Hollywood love letter to speed, tire smoke, and the questionable decision-making of a young pre-MI Tom Cruise.
And now, rumor has it, they’re firing up the sequel.
That’s right. Buckle your seatbelts, stock car faithful — Days of Thunder 2 could be rolling down pit road.
The Original: A Perfectly Flawed NASCAR Time Capsule
For the uninitiated — or anyone born after Dale Earnhardt was still scaring the life out of restrictor plates — Days of Thunder was the cinematic masterpiece where Cruise’s character, Cole Trickle, showed up with zero oval experience and promptly conquered NASCAR with the help of Robert Duvall, a rental car, and dialogue so cheesy it could’ve been sponsored by Velveeta.
It had everything: rubbing, racing, fistfights, love interests shoehorned in at 200 mph, and enough tire smoke to qualify as an EPA violation today.
But here’s the thing — it worked. It dragged NASCAR into multiplexes, sold a mountain of Mello Yello merch, and made the phrase “rubbin’ is racin’” a permanent part of the motorsport lexicon.
The Sequel: NASCAR’s Chance to Steal the Spotlight Again
Now, over three decades later, with NASCAR in a constant battle for eyeballs against streaming, short attention spans, and the occasional flying watermelon, Hollywood’s sniffing around Daytona Beach once more.
And honestly? Good.
NASCAR could use a little ridiculous right now. It’s been a while since stock car racing looked larger than life on the silver screen — the Earnhardt docuseries is brilliant, but it’s not exactly popcorn-fueled mayhem. Days of Thunder 2 — if it happens — brings the drama, the noise, and the chance to remind America that somewhere beneath the aerodynamic engineering, data telemetry, and press releases, NASCAR is still built on going fast, trading paint, and occasionally, getting the girl.
Will Cruise return? Will Rowdy Burns emerge from retirement with a bad attitude and a worse haircut? Who knows. But if they do it right — with a wink, a burnout, and maybe a cameo from the real NASCAR stars who’ve carried the torch — this could be the shot in the arm stock car racing never knew it needed.
Because let’s face it — NASCAR and Hollywood? They’ve always shared one crucial thing:
Neither one’s afraid to blow things up in the name of entertainment.
Days of Thunder 2 — NASCAR’s Hollywood Comeback — And Who We’d Cast to Keep It Interesting
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.