Dale Earnhardt Jr. Reacts To Major NASCAR Movie News originally appeared on The Spun.
Amid the recent success of the F1 movie, a sequel to the 1990 NASCAR movie Days of Thunder has now been confirmed by Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer. While many fans may not remember the film, Dale Earnhardt Jr. does, and he’s pumped for it.
The 1990 film starred Hollywood legends Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Nicole Kidman and Randy Quaid, and featured numerous cameos from some of the NASCAR stars of the time.
Dale Jr. is clearly very fond of the film and has already been pitching his own ideas for the sequel. His first and biggest is that as many members of the original cast as possible be reassembled for the movie.
“The more of the original cast members, the better,” Dale Jr. said on the Dale Jr. Download podcast. “This is very similar to the Rocky series and remakes for Rocky. But eventually, Rocky is too old to fight, and they had to shift to this Creed. That was difficult for me, just as somebody who had watched all the originals and the whole thing, one, two, three, and four and all that.
“I would need Tom Cruise to still be racing. Tom Cruise not in a race car for the entire movie doesn’t work for me. He can’t be an owner. Now, I think Rowdy Burns (played by Michael Rooker) could be an owner. I could see Rowdy Burns at this point in the storyline; he’s aged out, no longer driving and he’s now maybe some owner in the sport.”
“I would bring back all the original cast members and have them at least make a brief appearance in the movie, if not have heavy roles. The Russ Wheeler character (played by Cary Elwes), I would love it if he was still racing. I don’t know where he’s at, what he looks like these days, but if he’s taking good care of himself, I think you could pass him off as a veteran driver.
“I feel like we’re going to have to accept some younger cast members. There’s no choice. There’s going to be this young driver that’s very similar to what we’re seeing in the F1 movie, where you have the old guard and the new guard, right? I just can’t see any way around that. But that’ll be a part of that either makes or breaks the movie.”
Nov 9, 2024; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Xfinity Series team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr during the Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesMark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images.
Last week Days of Thunder celebrated its 35th anniversary and was a noted box office success. The film grossed over $150 million on a budget of $60 million.
There will, of course, need to be some major visionary changes made to the film though. Director Tony Scott sadly passed away in 2012.
Fortunately, nearly the entirety of the main cast of the original film are still alive and many are still making movies.
It’s certainly possible to realize Dale Jr’s dream sequel.
Related: Jeff Gordon Discusses Potential ‘Days of Thunder’ Sequel with Tom Cruise
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Reacts To Major NASCAR Movie News first appeared on The Spun on Jul 2, 2025
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
