Days after Tom Cruise’s major update on Days of Thunder’s sequel, Frankie Muniz makes a passionate pitch for a role

Frankie Muniz recently thought "out loud" and shared his strong desire to be part of the potential sequel to the Days of Thunder. The actor and full-time NASCAR Truck Series driver voiced his interest in the Tom Cruise-starring 1990 NASCAR film, which has lately received more appreciation than it did during its original release.

While no official decisions have been made about a second film, Cruise, who starred in the original film as Cole Trickle, has confirmed discussions about the sequel. Filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie also recently shared that he has a clear idea for a sequel after the soaring success of Top Gun's 2022 sequel.

"Just saying this out loud... If they make a Days of Thunder movie and I'm not in it for even a little bit, I failed in every aspect of my being," Frankie Muniz wrote.

Frankie Muniz

@frankiemuniz

Just saying this out loud... If they make a Days of Thunder movie and I'm not in it for even a little bit, I failed in every aspect of my being.

In an interview on Australia's "Today" show this week, Cruise mentioned,

"We're thinking and talking about many different stories and what could we do and what’s possible. It took me 35 years to figure out Top Gun: Maverick, so all of these things we’re working on, we’re discussing Days of Thunder and Top Gun: Maverick."

Jeff Gordon also shared his interest in collaborating with Cruise on the sequel earlier this year. The Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman said a new "Days of Thunder" film could represent the sport, which is falling behind its attendance and viewership counts which peaked in the 2000s, and increase its exposure.

Muniz, who also recently reprised his role from the early 2000s TV series Malcolm in the Middle for a revival series, got back into professional racing after about a decade.

Frankie Muniz's slow NASCAR Truck rookie season

Frankie Muniz paused his acting career in 2008 to follow his passion for car racing. He began racing in open-wheel events and later moved to stock car racing, first driving the pace car at the 2001 Daytona 500.

Muniz competed in the NASCAR ARCA Menards Series two years ago and finished fourth overall. Last year, he ran three Xfinity Series and four NASCAR Truck Series races and now races full-time in the NASCAR Truck Series. The Reaume Brothers Racing rookie driver has only managed one top-10 finish in the first 11 races of the 2025 season so far.

Muniz started this week's Truck race, Rackley Roofing 200, from 32nd place at Nashville Superspeedway. His primary sponsor was the Buy American Veteran Fund.

"Supporting veterans in Nashville this weekend 🇺🇸 Buy American Veteran™ Will be the primary sponsor of the No. 33 F-150 for tomorrow's race at [Nashville Superspeedway]," Reaume Brothers Racing shared on X.

Frankie Muniz stood 24th in the points standings before Friday's Nashville race.