Days of Thunder


Days of Thunder is a 1990 American sports action drama film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Tom Cruise, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Michael Rooker, Nicole Kidman and Cary Elwes. It also features appearances by real life NASCAR racers, such as Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, and Harry Gant. Commentator Dr. Jerry Punch, of ESPN, has a cameo appearance, as does co-producer Don Simpson.
Days of Thunder was released in the United States on June 27, 1990, by Paramount Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its racing sequences, Hans Zimmer's musical score, and the performances of Cruise and Duvall, but criticized its lack of originality compared to Scott's previous film Top Gun, and grossed $157.9 million worldwide against a production budget of $60 million. As of November 2024, a sequel is in development.

Plot

Young USAC racer Cole Trickle is recruited by Chevrolet dealership tycoon Tim Daland to race for his team in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, bringing former crew chief and car builder Harry Hogge out of retirement to lead Cole's pit crew. After Cole sets a fast time in a private test at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Harry builds him a new chassis and hires him onto his team.
Cole makes his first start at Phoenix, where he has difficulty adjusting to the larger NASCAR stock cars and communicating with his crew, while being intimidated on the track by Winston Cup Champion and dirty driver Rowdy Burns; these obstacles, combined with numerous crashes and blown engines, prevent Cole from finishing the next three races at Bristol, Dover, and Rockingham. Cole confesses to Harry that he does not understand any common NASCAR terminology, leading Harry to put him through rigorous training. This pays off at Darlington, when Cole uses a slingshot maneuver from the outside line to overtake Rowdy and win his first race.
The rivalry between Cole and Rowdy intensifies throughout the season until the Firecracker 400 at Daytona, where both drivers are seriously injured after being caught in a massive crash. Recovering in Daytona Beach, Cole develops a romantic relationship with Dr. Claire Lewicki, a neurosurgeon at a local hospital. NASCAR President Big John brings Rowdy and Cole together in a meeting and warns them that he and his sport will no longer tolerate any misbehavior from the two rivals. The two bitter rivals soon become close friends after having dinner and settling their differences by smashing rental cars in a race on the beach, per Big John's persuasion.
Daland hires another hotshot rookie, Russ Wheeler, to fill Cole's seat until Cole returns, and then expands his team, with Daland now fielding two cars – the second car driven by Russ, despite Harry's disapproval. Though Cole shows signs of his old self, he falls into a new rivalry with Russ, leading to an engine failure at Atlanta. Daland offers no help to Cole or his crew, as he is defensive of his newest driver. At North Wilkesboro, Russ blocks Cole's path during their pit stop, and later forces Cole into the outside wall on the last lap to win the race. Cole retaliates by crashing into Russ' car after the race, leading to a fight between Harry, Daland, and both of Cole and Russ's pit crews, with Daland firing both Cole and Harry in the process.
Rowdy learns he has to undergo brain surgery to fix a broken blood vessel, and asks Cole to drive his car at the Daytona 500 so his sponsor will pay for the year. Cole reluctantly agrees and convinces Harry to return as his crew chief. Hours prior to the race, Harry discovers metal in the oil pan, a sign of engine failure, and manages to procure a new engine from Daland, who still believes in his former driver's promise. During the race, Cole's car is spun out by Russ and suffers a malfunctioning transmission, but the combined efforts of Harry's and Daland's pit crews manage to fix the problem and get Cole back on the lead lap. On the final lap, Russ predicts that Cole will attempt his signature slingshot maneuver from outside, but Cole tricks him with a crossover, overtaking him from the inside to win his first Daytona 500.
Cole drives into Victory Lane, where he and his pit crew celebrate with Claire. He approaches Harry, sitting alone, who is impressed by Cole's performance. Cole asks Harry to walk with him and Harry agrees, challenging him to a foot race to Victory Lane.

Cast

  • Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, a young race car driver out to make a name for himself in NASCAR. He drives the No. 46 City Chevrolet, the SuperFlo Chevrolet and later the No. 51 Mello Yello Chevrolet. The character was patterned after Tim Richmond, while his name is a nod to veteran racer Dick Trickle.
  • Robert Duvall as Harry Hogge, Cole's crew chief.
  • Randy Quaid as Tim Daland, a wealthy car dealership and race team owner who first recruits Cole into NASCAR.
  • Nicole Kidman as Dr. Claire Lewicki, a neurosurgeon who develops a relationship with Cole.
  • Michael Rooker as Rowdy Burns, the current Winston Cup Champion and Cole's first rival and friend. He drives the No. 51 Exxon Chevrolet.
  • Cary Elwes as Russ Wheeler, a rookie driver who fills in for Cole, but later on becomes his teammate and bitter rival. He drives the No. 18 Hardee's Chevrolet.
  • John C. Reilly as Buck Bretherton, Cole's car chief, and Buddy Bretherton's son.
  • Fred Thompson as Big John, president of NASCAR.
  • Caroline Williams as Jennie Burns, Rowdy's wife.
  • J. C. Quinn as Waddell, Rowdy's crew chief.
  • Nick Searcy as a highway patrol officer.
Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, and Dr. Jerry Punch all appear in cameo roles as themselves. Bob Jenkins had a voice-over role as a public address announcer, and his ESPN colleagues Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett portray radio announcers.
In addition, esteemed character actress Margo Martindale is seen in her first film role, as Harry's timekeeper, while Don Simpson, one of the film's producers, has a cameo as driver Aldo Bennedetti, patterned after Mario Andretti and using his twin brother Aldo Andretti's first name.

Production

took place in late 1989 and early 1990 in and around Charlotte and Daytona Beach. It was plagued with delays due to frequent arguments on set between Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tony Scott, and sometimes Robert Towne over how to set up a shot. Crew members sat idle for long hours; some later said they had accumulated enough overtime pay to go on vacation for a full four months after filming was completed. The completion date was pushed back many times, with filming being completed in early May, three months later than it had originally been scheduled. At one point, following the third revision of the shooting schedule in a single day, the unit production manager, who represents the studio on the set or location, confronted Simpson and Bruckheimer and was told bluntly that the schedule no longer mattered.
In Daytona, Simpson and Bruckheimer spent $400,000 to have a vacant storefront in their hotel converted into their private gym, with a large neon sign reading "Days of Thunder". Simpson also kept a closet full of Donna Karan dresses to offer the attractive women his assistants found on the beach, and held private parties with friends like rapper Tone Lōc. Towne also played a role in the film's increasing cost by scrapping more barn scenes when he did not like either of two barns built to his specifications. The film's original budget of $35 million nearly doubled; at that level it would have had to make at least $100 million, a rare gross at that time, to break even. In addition, when Tom Cruise lost the Oscar for Born on the Fourth of July, some additional budget was cut. Despite the budget overruns and delays, reportedly it was only after shooting was finished that the filmmakers discovered they had neglected to film Cole Trickle's car crossing the finish line at Daytona. Nine million dollars of the film's budget plus gross percentage went to star Tom Cruise.
With the delay in completion of filming and no delay in release date, post production had to be completed in five weeks rather than the five months it would normally take for such a film.

Race cars

The cars used as those of Cole Trickle, Rowdy Burns, and Russ Wheeler, being the 1989 Chevrolet Lumina Stock Car used by Dale Earnhardt during his last races, were provided by Hendrick Motorsports, with racers Greg Sacks, Tommy Ellis, Bobby Hamilton, and Hut Stricklin as the stand-in drivers. In order to provide authentic race footage involving the cars, these cars were actually raced on three occasions. In late 1989, Hamilton and Sacks raced at Phoenix. Hamilton officially qualified fifth and led a lap before his engine blew. In 1990, the cars were raced again at Daytona and Darlington. Sacks drove a car during the Busch Clash, while Hamilton and Ellis drove unscored entries in the Daytona 500. At Darlington, Stricklin and Sacks drove two of the cars, but both were pulled from the race early after Sacks broke a crankshaft. Cole's first car in the film is sponsored by City Chevrolet, a real-life car dealership in Charlotte, North Carolina, owned by Rick Hendrick.

Music

The score for Days of Thunder was composed by Hans Zimmer, with Jeff Beck featured on guitar. Zimmer had this to say about Jeff Beck "I think he is the most amazing musician I've ever worked with. The whole reason I did 'Days of Thunder' was a subterfuge to work with Jeff Beck, it was as simple as that. There's Jeff Beck and then there's everybody else.". This was the first of an ongoing list of films in which Zimmer would compose the score for a Jerry Bruckheimer production. An official score album was not released until 2013, by La-La Land Records. The film's theme song "The Last Note of Freedom" was sung by David Coverdale of the band Whitesnake at the request of Tom Cruise himself. Coverdale's vocal parts were recorded in 1990 in Los Angeles during a day off of the Whitesnake Slip of the Tongue Liquor and Poker world tour. "Show Me Heaven", written and sung by Maria McKee, reached number one in the music charts of the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway.