Cruise’s Daytona appearance puts NASCAR in the global entertainment spotlight as Cole Trickle prepares to return to the track in 2028

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) — Tom Cruise brought Hollywood star power to Daytona International Speedway, energizing the NASCAR garage and putting one of racing’s most recognizable movie characters back on the starting grid.

The global superstar’s appearance during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 weekend was more than a celebrity visit. Cruise came to Daytona to reconnect with NASCAR, meet today’s drivers and team owners, and introduce the next chapter of Days of Thunder, with Cruise returning as Cole Trickle and Anne Hathaway joining the franchise.

Florida National News was at Daytona capturing Cruise’s interaction with drivers, teams and fans as Hollywood and NASCAR came together at the World Center of Racing.

Cruise Brings Hollywood Star Power to Daytona

Cruise’s presence immediately became one of the biggest stories surrounding the NASCAR weekend.

The actor attended the pre-race drivers meeting and spent time with competitors and team owners as he learned more about how NASCAR has changed since the original Days of Thunder was released in 1990.

Cruise told NASCAR competitors that he wants the new movie to capture more than racing. His interest extends to the teams, people and culture surrounding the sport — an approach that could give NASCAR significant exposure beyond its traditional fan base.

For NASCAR, that star power matters.

Cruise is one of the world’s most recognizable movie stars, and a major theatrical production built around stock-car racing could introduce NASCAR’s drivers, teams and tracks to audiences who may rarely, if ever, watch a Cup Series race.

Tom Cruise and Anne Hathaway pose alongside a “Cole Trickle” Days of Thunder race car in a promotional image for Days of Thunder 2.
Photo Credit: Courtesy Photo: Tom Cruise’s X social media

‘Days of Thunder’ Returns for a New NASCAR Generation

Cruise will reprise his role as Cole Trickle, the fearless young driver at the center of the original movie.

Hathaway will co-star as a race-team owner and engineer. Jonathan Levine is set to direct from a screenplay by Will Staples, while Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper are producing.

Paramount Pictures has scheduled the movie for June 2, 2028.

The sequel arrives nearly four decades after the original Days of Thunder brought NASCAR racing to movie theaters around the world.

The 1990 film starred Cruise alongside Robert Duvall, Nicole Kidman, Michael Rooker, Randy Quaid and Cary Elwes. Real NASCAR personalities were also incorporated into the production, establishing a connection between Hollywood fiction and the actual racing community.

Now Cruise is returning to a NASCAR that is dramatically different from the sport Cole Trickle entered in 1990.

NASCAR Drivers Already Want In

Cruise’s Daytona appearance also created another storyline: Which NASCAR stars will make it into the movie?

Three-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano, along with Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson, has expressed interest in appearing in the sequel. Production is expected to begin in early 2027, leaving casting and potential NASCAR cameos among the major developments still ahead.

Their enthusiasm illustrates the cultural reach of the original film within NASCAR itself.

Many of today’s drivers grew up in an era when Days of Thunder had already become part of racing’s popular culture. Appearing alongside Cruise could now give a new generation of NASCAR competitors the opportunity once held by drivers who appeared in the original movie.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Helps Connect Hollywood With Modern NASCAR

NASCAR’s involvement may extend well beyond cameos.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has said he has been communicating with people developing the story, including discussions about how the movie can authentically portray today’s NASCAR while respecting what made the original memorable.

That input could prove valuable.

NASCAR has changed dramatically since 1990 — from its race cars and safety technology to team operations, media coverage and the way fans experience the sport. Capturing modern NASCAR while preserving the personality of the original movie will be one of the sequel’s central challenges.

Rick Hendrick Sees a Major Opportunity for NASCAR

Few people have a stronger connection to both chapters than legendary NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick.

Hendrick Motorsports provided technical support for the original movie, beginning a relationship among Hendrick, Cruise and producer Jerry Bruckheimer that stretches back decades.

Hendrick believes the sequel could provide a significant boost for NASCAR, saying the movie could do the sport “a tremendous amount of good.”

That assessment gets to the larger significance of Cruise’s Daytona appearance.

A Days of Thunder sequel isn’t simply another Hollywood production using racing as a backdrop. If NASCAR teams, drivers and tracks become part of the production, the movie could function as a global showcase for the sport.

From ‘Top Gun’ to ‘Days of Thunder’

Cruise has already demonstrated the potential of revisiting a signature movie decades later.

Top Gun: Maverick introduced the Top Gun franchise to a new generation while bringing longtime fans back to theaters. There is no guarantee Days of Thunder will duplicate that success, but NASCAR offers many of the elements associated with Cruise’s biggest action films — speed, technology, competition, danger and spectacle.

The difference this time is that NASCAR itself could share the spotlight.

Cruise isn’t simply returning to the fictional world of Cole Trickle. He is immersing himself in the real NASCAR garage before cameras begin rolling.

Daytona Becomes the Starting Line

That makes Daytona an important part of the sequel’s developing story.

Daytona International Speedway represents generations of NASCAR history. Cruise’s decision to bring Days of Thunder back into that environment connected the original film, today’s NASCAR and Hollywood’s upcoming sequel in one place.

For longtime NASCAR fans, Cruise’s return revives memories of Cole Trickle.

For younger audiences, the new film could provide their first introduction to the character — and potentially their first meaningful exposure to NASCAR.

For the sport itself, the possibilities are considerably larger.

Cruise and Hathaway give the production international star power. NASCAR provides the speed, personalities, rivalries and authenticity. Daytona provided the stage where those worlds came together.

And NASCAR drivers are already lining up to become part of it.

What’s Next for ‘Days of Thunder’

Attention now turns toward production, which is expected to begin in early 2027. Additional casting, filming locations, participating NASCAR organizations and driver cameos remain among the biggest unanswered questions.

The finished movie is scheduled to arrive in theaters June 2, 2028.

Between now and then, NASCAR has an unusual opportunity: allow one of Hollywood’s biggest stars to take audiences behind the wheel and into the culture of American stock-car racing.

At Daytona, Cruise provided the first taste of what that combination could generate.

The thunder is coming back — and NASCAR could be one of its biggest stars.