NASCAR is making a big move behind the scenes to help Tom Cruise as the blockbuster star brings more attention to stock car racing with the Days of Thunder sequel, which releases in June 2028.
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According to the Wall Street Journal's Erle Norton, NASCAR is building more than 80 cars for the Tom Cruise-led film. This will add some authenticity as filming takes place at the sport's tracks.
Norton notes that Cruise has told NASCAR officials that they need to be ready and that people "are going to tune in that have never seen a race." This sequel will potentially bring in countless new viewers who want to learn more about stock car racing.
The first Days of Thunder featured the sport's biggest team providing crucial assistance. Hendrick Motorsports played a direct role in the production after a meeting at the track between Cruise, Paul Newman, and Rick Hendrick.
The championship-winning team built cars for the film's production. City Chevrolet, Hendrick's car dealership, also had a role in the film as the sponsor of Cruise's character, Cole Trickle.
"We started talking about the GTP car I had — the Corvette," Hendrick said about his conversation with Newman. "I told him, I said, 'Look, we're gonna stay Monday and test. Would you like to stay and drive the car?' He said, 'Oh, man, sure!'
"He had this young guy with him, and he introduced me to him. It was Tom Cruise, and I didn't know who Tom Cruise was. Tom started coming to Charlotte, just hanging out a couple of weeks in the summertime."
Hendrick said that he went to Daytona to test an O'Reilly Auto Parts Series car, which Cruise also drove. This led to the partnership between Days of Thunder and Hendrick Motorsports.
Decades later, Cruise is back for another film about NASCAR. He is bringing along co-star Anne Hathaway. They will act out the script penned by Will Staples while Jonathan Levine produces.
No details are currently available about the Days of Thunder sequel. People involved with the film have been visiting race shops and tracks over the past several months, even as recently as last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Regardless of how the story unfolds, Hendrick believes that another Days of Thunder will be positive for the sport.
"Anything he's in, I can tell you he pours his heart and soul into making a movie," Hendrick said about Cruise in August.
"And I think him going around and talking to all the owners and drivers and reassuring them that he's going to make them proud, I think that showed the amount of determination he has in wanting it to be something everybody in the sport will be proud of."
