Dale Earnhardt Jr. suggests Rocky-Creed style reboot for Days of Thunder sequel

Former NASCAR Cup Series star Dale Earnhardt Jr. recently talked about the sequel to Tom Cruise's Days of Thunder. On the latest episode of the 'Dale Jr. Download' podcast with his co-host TJ Majors, Earnhardt Jr. suggested his take on the revival of the movie.

Days of Thunder was originally produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and was released in 1990, starring Tom Cruise. He played the role of Cole Trickle, a young NASCAR driver who aimed to make his way to the top of the Cup Series. The movie was a huge hit, making $157 million at the box office and earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound.

Reflecting on the same, Dale Earnhardt Jr. suggested casting the 'original' members from the 1990 movie, citing the example of the Sylvester Stallone-starrer Rocky franchise. He pointed out that when Rocky was too old to fight, they shifted to a spin-off, Creed. Dale Jr. explained [01:12:13 onwards]:

"I'll say this, so this is very similar, I think, to like the Rocky series and the remakes for Rocky, right? But eventually Rocky is too old to fight and then they had to shift to this creed, right? Mhm. Um that was difficult for me just as somebody who had watched all the originals and um the whole thing, you know, 1, two, three, and four and all that. Um I would need Tom Cruz to still be racing."

"Tom Cruz not in a race car for the entire movie doesn't work for me. Right. So, he can't be an owner. Um now, I think Rowdy Burns could be an owner. I could see Rowdy Burns at this point in the storyline. He's out, he's aged out, no longer driving, and he's now maybe some owner in the sport. Um, but I would bring back all the original cast members and um and have them at least make a brief appearance in the movie, if not have heavy roles," Dale Earnhardt Jr. concluded.

Earlier in November 2024, Tom Cruise was in final talks to produce the sequel. However, this month, the director of movies like F1 and Top Gun: Maverick told GQ about casting F1 star Brad Pitt for the sequel.

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“I feel like it was a great opportunity to introduce him to people”: Dale Earnhardt Jr. got candid about approving the 'Earnhardt' project

Earlier this year, in May 2025, former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his sister Kelley Earnhardt-Miller revealed the reason behind allowing Amazon Prime to work on their father, Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s, documentary.

The seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Sr. passed away in a tragic accident in 2002 at Daytona International Speedway, and Dale Jr. wanted to introduce new NASCAR fans to his father's legacy.

Reflecting on the same, Dale Earnhardt Jr. told NBC Sports in May:

“I see a lot of people ask the question, new fans that are coming in saying, ‘Why is this person so respected, appreciated? Why was he so loved? Help me understand.’ And so I feel like it was a great opportunity to introduce him to people that maybe don’t know him that well, or don’t know much about his career.”

Earnhardt Jr. secured 26 wins, 149 top-five finishes, and 260 top-10 finishes in 631 starts, but he never won a Cup Series championship title. However, he made it in the Xfinity Series, securing two back-to-back championship titles.