Steve O’Donnell Reveals 64-Year-Old Tom Cruise Wanted to Race at NASCAR ARCA Series

NASCAR is set to get the big Hollywood moment they have been looking for a long-time soon, as the production for the Tom Cruise starter Days of Thunder 2 has started. The movie that will star Anne Hathaway alongside the action superstar of Hollywood, is the sequel to the 1990 classic that played a key role in the legends rise to stardom.

Steve O’Donnell, the NASCAR CEO, talked about the movie on his latest interview with Front Office Sports. In the conversation, the senior stock car racing official revealed that the 64-year-old actor wanted to race in the ARCA Series, the fourth division of the sport, to understand the sport better for the movie.

The move surprises no one, as Tom Cruise is known for doing dangerous stunts for his movies. For the first edition of DOT, he ran in the 1987 Busch Series (now the O’Reilly Series) Daytona test with the support from Hendrick Motorsports. He clocked in the pace of 178mph, impressive for an amateur driver like him.

I was shocked. We have an ARCA Series, which is our national touring series, and Tom wanted to go race in one of those. I’m not sure that’s going to happen. But he want its to be authentic as it can be. We’ll still see how the story lines play out…

Steve O’Donnell said, as reported by motorsport.com.

Veterans or senior figures driving in the ARCA series is nothing new, as the series often features upcoming talents or old drivers spending their final years in motorsport. The oldest driver ever to run in the series was 78-year-old James Hylton, who raced in the series back in the 2013 season. He raced full time that season with his own team and ended the year as the 11^th best racer.

Steve O’Donnell reveals Tom Cruise’s goal with the Days of Thunder 2

In the same conversation, O’Donnell talked about what Cruise hopes to gain with the movie. The first movie showcased what the sport was in the 1990s. Now with all the technological changes the sport has embraced, there is a new story and culture that needs be shown on the big screen.

I think the first one (the original) showcased what NASCAR was at the time, a long time ago, and in talking to Tom Cruise while he was at Daytona, it’s all about where we are today and going forward, so it’s embracing instead of a car being put together back in a garage, embracing the technology, embracing everything that goes into the sport.

Steve O’Donnell said.

Further talking about the point, the veteran highlighted Cruise is planning to show the new generation what NASCAR is now and is hoping to attract a new fan base. This might be the sport trump card to attract the young demographics.

And Tom’s message to us was ‘I’m going to be putting you in front of an entirely new audience, and you need to be ready.’ There’s some things that we’ll work together on. Do people understand the points system, how does the Chase work, how long are your races. All these things to make sure if a new fan comes out to the race track understands. For us, this is a whole new open door to bring in new fans.

Steve O’Donnell added.

The comments from the veteran are on point and shows how much hope NASCAR has about the movie bringing in more attention to the sport. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for NASCAR is the coming years.

Also Read: Chase Briscoe has Made Kyle Larson’s Life “Uncomfortable” at the Top