Kyle Busch has spoken with film writer for Days of Thunder sequel ideas

In 1990, ‘Days of Thunder’ was released — a movie starring Tom Cruise as hotshot NASCAR driver Cole Trickle. The film is basically ‘Top Gun’ but with race cars, earning over twice its budget in the box office, and remains very popular within the NASCAR fanbase.

Legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who was also deeply involved in the development for the recent hit ‘F1’ movie, has indicated in previous interviews that a sequel to the ’90s NASCAR film was actively being discussed. Cruise himself has echoed that sentiment in multiple comments, and spoke with NASCAR legend (and close friend) Jeff Gordon about it.

This past week, Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern reported that a film writer has been speaking with teams and drivers, and even visited race shops as he attempts to create a script for a potential sequel.

One of those drivers in two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, the winningest active driver in the sport. His nickname, Rowdy, was a nod to the character of Rowdy Burns from the original ‘Days of Thunder’ movie, portrayed by Michael Rooker.

Days of Thunder filming, Tom Cruise

Busch confirmed that he has been among those in contact with a film writer and that he’s excited about the potential sequel, saying in a Saturday press conference at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

“I don’t know how much NASCAR’s involvement is, if they’re the ones calling for it or not, but obviously I think it would be something cool. It would be special. You’ve got to be careful with it, right? Because the first one was so good, you don’t want to screw up the second one. It’s always hard to come back with a better second chance at making a movie.

“But no, it’s awesome. “I’ve had a chance to speak with the writer a couple times about some of the ideas and what not, so that’s been pretty fun and interesting to see what the concept may be or may not be. But yeah, we’re certainly looking forward to it and seeing it come to fruition.”

Better for the sport than Talladega Nights

Tom Cruise at NASCAR Awards

Christopher Bell, who is on pole for the Cup race in Vegas this weekend, was asked in his own press conference about a possible ‘Days of Thunder’ sequel, believing it would do far more for the sport than the 2006 comedy, ‘Talladega Nights.’

“Yeah, it would be really cool,” said Bell. “I think anytime you get more exposure for our sport and just getting more eyes on it would be huge. One thing I appreciate about Days of Thunder was it was taken a little bit more serious. As a kid growing up, I loved Talladega Nights, and I thought it was hilarious, but then the older I got, and the more into the sport I got, I realized that the general public kind of took that as reality and not the comedy than it was. I think if you could get more serious footage of it and showing how amazing our sport is, is a great, great thing.”