Here's a wild piece of news for you: as Motorsport.com reports, Tom Cruise wanted to step into an actual ARCA machine to prepare for his return as Cole Trickle in the upcoming Days of Thunder sequel. NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell shared the revelation during a Tuesday interview with Front Office Sports, noting that the 64-year-old actor genuinely wanted to race in the national touring series.
Now, Cruise is famous for handling his own insane stunts across the Mission Impossible franchise, so a stock car run isn't entirely out of character for the man. Still, O'Donnell admitted he was caught off guard by the proposition. “I was shocked,” O’Donnell said. "We have an ARCA Series, which is our national touring series, and Tom wanted to go race in one of those. I’m not sure that’s going to happen. But he wants it to be authentic as it can be. We’ll still see how the story lines play out...”
While his age might sound high for a racing debut, 64 is nowhere near the record for the fourth level of stock car racing. Multiple drivers older than that have taken part in recent years, capped by the late James Hylton competing at 78 years old in 2013. Besides, Cruise is no stranger to the smell of burning rubber. Back in 1987, he drove a NASCAR Busch Series car in a test session at Daytona, hitting 178mph for Hendrick Motorsports.
The sequel, which will also star Anne Hathaway alongside Cruise, is slated for a summer 2028 release. Unlike the legendary 1990 original that captured a bygone era, O'Donnell noted that the new film will focus on where the sport stands today and where it is heading. "I think the first one showcased what NASCAR was at the time, a long time ago, and in talking to Tom Cruise while he was at Daytona, it’s all about where we are today and going forward, so it’s embracing instead of a car being put together back in a garage, embracing the technology, embracing everything that goes into the sport," O'Donnell added.
Beyond the cinematic action, Cruise apparently has big plans for drawing fresh eyes to the series. According to O'Donnell, the actor delivered a clear message about the scale of the incoming viewership: “And Tom’s message to us was ‘I’m going to be putting you in front of an entirely new audience, and you need to be ready.' There's some things that we'll work together on. Do people understand the points system, how does the Chase work, how long are your races. All these things to make sure if a new fan comes out to the race track understands. For us, this is a whole new open door to bring in new fans."
