Tom Cruise Confirms He’s Doing His Own NASCAR Driving for ‘Days of Thunder 2’

Tom Cruise has built an entire second career on the promise that whatever stunt his character needs, he’ll actually do it himself, from scaling the Burj Khalifa to piloting fighter jets for ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’ That reputation followed him straight into the garage this week as he made his first major public appearance to discuss his upcoming return to the racetrack.

Cruise showed up at Daytona International Speedway ahead of NASCAR’s regular season finale, joining ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ for a wide-ranging interview covering everything from his new film ‘Digger’ to his long-awaited return as fictional driver Cole Trickle. The visit doubled as an official confirmation that ‘Days of Thunder 2‘ is happening, with Cruise revealing the sequel will hit theaters on June 2, 2028, alongside returning co-star Anne Hathaway.

Fans who assumed Cruise would sit safely behind a green screen for the racing sequences got their answer almost immediately. Tom Cruise confirmed he will be driving the actual NASCAR cars during production of ‘Days of Thunder 2,’ telling McAfee bluntly that if he’s making a movie about airplanes, he’s flying them, and in this case, that means he’s driving.

Cruise made clear this isn’t a sudden decision, explaining that he’s been thinking about bringing Cole Trickle back for a long time. He described growing up racing cars on back roads before he even had his license, tying that personal history directly to why the ‘Days of Thunder’ character has stuck with him for over three decades since the original film’s 1990 release.

He also traced the project’s roots back to how the first film came together in the first place, recalling that he brought the original story to producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with Tony Scott eventually coming on to direct. That same creative partnership helped launch ‘Top Gun’ around the same era, and Cruise framed the new sequel as a continuation of figuring out how to bring audiences back into Cole Trickle’s world.

The conversation also touched on a more somber note tied to the film’s cast history. Robert Duvall, who played Trickle’s crew chief and mentor in the original ‘Days of Thunder,’ passed away earlier this year, and Cruise addressed how the sequel plans to handle that loss on screen.

Cruise said audiences would see how the film approaches that tribute once it releases, choosing not to reveal too many specifics ahead of time. He described the overall tone he wants to carry through the sequel as one rooted in joy and humor, pointing to NASCAR’s tight-knit community as something he hopes to represent authentically on screen.

Beyond the personal stakes, Cruise’s insistence on driving real NASCAR cars signals the kind of hands-on production approach that’s defined his biggest hits over the past decade. With Cruise addressing the NASCAR garage directly at Daytona and promising to treat the sport with respect throughout filming, the sequel appears positioned to lean heavily into authenticity rather than relying purely on visual effects for its racing sequences.

Combined with Hathaway’s confirmed return and a release date locked in for 2028, ‘Days of Thunder 2’ now has real momentum building nearly two years ahead of its theatrical debut.

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