There is no motorsports fan who's not happy about the Days of Thunder sequel news. And the latest endorsement for the upcoming movie comes from none other than the NASCAR veteran Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It is officially announced that the sequel to the racing flick is happening and that Tom Cruise is returning. Junior, along with Amy Earnhardt, shared their excitement on the news in their chat on the Bless Your ‘Hardt podcast.

“Oh, I'm excited. I think it's great. It'll be awesome for our sport. It'll be awesome for old and new fans. I'm sure there'll be a lot of Easter eggs in there,” said Dale Jr.

When the 1990 cult classic came out, it boosted NASCAR’s mainstream appeal and introduced stock car racing to a much wider global audience. Junior feels the sequel could do the same for this generation.

And coming after 36 years, the movie is bound to have easter eggs just like Top Gun: Maverick did in 2022, which released after a similar time span.

“I've seen these guys out and about, digging into the sport, trying to talk to people, meeting with people, talking with drivers, talking with all types of people in the industry. They are doing some homework, digging and gathering. I'm bullish about it, or positive about it, that it's gonna be a great experience,” Dale Jr said on the podcast.

This update coming from Junior not just reassures fans about the movie’s development but also shows the kind of research the team’s putting in to get the job done right. A couple of months ago, even Jeff Gordon had echoed the same sentiment in the garage.

“All I can say is that there have been a team at the track, taking notes, gathering information, meeting with drivers and teams, and a writer who’s working on something to move it into the future,” Gordon said in May, as reported by the Daily Downforce.

Will Staples is the screenwriter who’s working on it. Jonathan Levine is the director in talks. The film will be backed by Paramount Pictures, the same studio that released the original.

Both Jerry Bruckheimer and Tom Cruise are coming in as producers after their successful collaboration in Top Gun: Maverick. The production start date hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, though reports say filming could begin in early 2027.

Meanwhile, as Staples still writes the script, Junior and Amy are already taking their guesses on the story.

Dale Jr and Amy have different predictions for the story

While speaking about the sequel, Amy Earnhardt used the Top Gun movies as reference. She said that everyone was skeptical about Top Gun: Maverick, but the movie truly lived up to the expectations.

She feels the DOT sequel could have a similar storyline in that sense, where Cole Trickle, much older and wiser now, mentors somebody younger than him the way Maverick mentored Rooster, the son of his wingman Goose.

“I feel like it's gonna be similar to that. Like, there's gonna be somebody new and young come in, and he's, I don't know, gonna coach them maybe. I don't know. We'll see. But it's, it's gonna be great,” she said in the same conversation.

On the other hand, Junior concluded with a simple one-liner guess:

“My guess is that it's Cole Trickle comeback story.”

What’s your opinion?

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Written by

Suyashdeep Sason

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason