Chase Elliott has backed the Days of Thunder sequel and hopes Hendrick Motorsports get a part in it. The NASCAR star met Tom Cruise at Daytona ahead of the announcement.
Cruise confirmed the follow-up to the 1990 classic at the speedway, waving the green flag hours before the Cup Series regular-season finale. He will return as Cole Trickle, with Anne Hathaway joining as a team owner and engineer.
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The film is scheduled for release on June 2, 2028, with production expected to begin early next year.
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Elliott on meeting Tom Cruise and the Hendrick link
Elliott met Cruise during a drivers’ meeting at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, alongside the rest of the Cup field. He was asked whether he knew anything about Rick Hendrick’s involvement.
‘I don’t know what the boss has planned on that,’ Elliott said.
‘I hope that he’s the first one they call to want to help do that again. Some of the stories behind all that was really neat. They actually had to qualify in the races and stuff back in the day. So I think it would be really fun.’
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There is history there. Hendrick Motorsports helped build and repair the stock cars for the original filming, and Cole Trickle’s primary car carried the City Chevrolet dealership sponsorship.
‘City Chevrolet and the colors on his car and all the things I thought were just really iconic and iconic for the boss and seeing some of those things in his museum and whatnot,’ Elliott said.
Cruise met the drivers, posed for pictures and shook hands with military personnel before being whisked away for the race itself.
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, now vice chairman at Hendrick, has openly lobbied for the sequel over the years. Cruise even showed up at a 2015 banquet to honour Gordon when he retired.
Photo by Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The original was panned by critics but became a cult favourite in NASCAR circles, and its lines still live on today.
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For Elliott, it is one more piece of a busy week. He enters the new 10-race Chase as the eighth seed, 60 points behind leader Denny Hamlin, with the title run beginning at Darlington on Sunday.
The movie can wait until production starts next year. The Cup title is the job right now, and Elliott is fully focused on it.
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