Hollywood Meets NASCAR: When Rick Hendrick Brought Tom Cruise & Paul Newman to the Racing World

“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.” NASCAR’s slogan is simple. After all the racing, everyone needs to get their share of the profits. It’s how the system runs. However, once in a while, there are moments that go beyond this slogan, where the pure joy of racing overtakes all limits. That’s what happened when Hollywood racing fans Tom Cruise and Paul Newman hit the track at Daytona.
With Cars and Days of Thunder, the NASCAR connection is there. Back in 1987, both Cruise and Newman got an even closer look into the action. As it turned out, Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick invited the two to test a Busch Series car at Daytona.
How did the two celebrities perform during the NASCAR test?
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The two Hollywood celebrities were massive racing fans. Newman, best known for Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and the Pixar movie, Cars, and Cruise for the Mission Impossible franchise, Top Gun, and its sequel, A Few Good Men, and Days of Thunder, were both fans of racing. As it happened, both Hollywood stars and adrenalin buffs were fairly competitive. They joined a relatively young Hendrick Motorsports for a test at the Daytona Speedway.
Newman was consistently lapping in the region of over 190 mph, while Cruise hit around 178 mph. Sadly, poor Tom Cruise was forced to end his session early because his car began experiencing engine troubles. This chance meeting went on to be a significant point in NASCAR’s history because it inspired the Days of Thunder movie. As Cruise later explained, “I have driven some incredible machines with Paul and Rick before that, but the sensation of driving one of Rick’s stock cars around Daytona, that was an entirely different level. I think I hit 175 mph. The second I climbed out of that car on the pit road, I said, ‘We have to make a movie about this!’.” And so the movie would come into being. At the same time, Newman wasn’t far behind with his love for NASCAR.
As mentioned before, Newman’s own NASCAR-Hollywood tryst was the Cars franchise. There were other projects, like the 2007 Dale documentary, for which he was the narrator. Finally, he also served as a narrator for a documentary on meerkats, and that was his last project before he passed away at the age of 83. Though Cars 3 did use archive footage and was regarded as a posthumous release. That wasn’t all Newman had to do with racing.
Aside from being an actor, Newman has competed in professional races before. He was a frequent competitor in the Sports Car Club of America, winning four national championships. Other accolades include 2nd place in the 1979 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, alongside Dick Barbour and Rolf Stommelen. What’s also interesting is that in the same year of his test, he attempted to qualify for the Go Bowling at the Glen race. Newman was confirmed on the entry list but was forced to withdraw from the event. This was largely because of scheduling conflicts for the actor, but he was far from the only one. There was one other withdrawal, from Greg Sacks because of a practice crash.
At the time, he was partnered by four other top racers. They were, Geoff Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, Tim Richmond, and Benny Parsons. Parsons went on to finish in fifth place, behind race winners Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte, Dave Marcis, and Ricky Rudd. Richmond and Waltrip finished 10th and 11th respectively, and Bodine was 15th.
All in all, this test would have greatly benefitted Hendrick Motorsports. Admittedly, the fruits of the 1987 test would not be seen until Jeff Gordon went on an absolute tear from 1995 onwards. The rest was history, as Hendrick Motorsports went on to clinch multiple driver’s titles. With Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Larson bringing the glory. To this day, they are considered as one of the strongest teams in NASCAR.
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Is NASCAR making another movie?
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Now, with the success of Days of Thunder and Talladega Nights, the idea of another NASCAR movie coming to Hollywood wouldn’t be too terrible. It might even help draw global viewership to the sport at a time when NASCAR is partnering with online streaming platforms. However, fans have a different idea. They believe a sequel would ruin the magic. At least that’s what they think of a Days of Thunder sequel.
Seeing Tom Cruise return to drive a NASCAR vehicle with all the action would be like watching Top Gun: Maverick again, but fans think the original movie needs to remain untouched. It was made at a time when the sport was in a different stage, with different champions and formats. They also think a remake of the original would sour the memories and nostalgia the first one left them with.
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This certainly puts NASCAR fans in a pickle. With Brad Pitt’s F1 movie Apex coming out soon, they know the potential for another NASCAR movie. Going by reports, Apex was shot with actors working closely with real Formula 1 cars. Given the upgrade in technology in terms of cameras, one can only imagine how good the visuals can be. Alas, there is little hope for another movie. While rumors of the sequel ran rampant earlier in the week, NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell clarified the stance on a new movie. “It would be great to see it happen, but that’s as far as any discussions have gone.”
Would you like to see a sequel to Days of Thunder? Let us know in the comments below!