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Days of Thunder was released on June 27, 1990. To mark the occasion, here's a thread of info from the movie's filming.
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The first inspiration for Days of Thunder came on January 3, 1987. Rick Hendrick invited Paul Newman and Tom Cruise to test Geoff Bodine's Busch car at Daytona. Newman ran laps over 190 while Cruise's fastest lap was 178 mph.
While preparing for Days of Thunder, Tom Cruise attended several NASCAR races, including the Watkins Glen race in August 1989. Most of the movie was loosely based on Tim Richmond's life, ironically Tim passed away early that morning.
One of the potential names for the movie was Top Run. Then called Daytona. Finally they settled on Days of Thunder.
Filming began at Phoenix in November 1989.
Filming began at Phoenix in November 1989.
Paramount Pictures paid NASCAR to allow them to film scenes during the Daytona 500. Two cars driven by Bobby Hamilton and Tommy Ellis started the race at the rear of the field to get footage.
The scene where Cole was helicoptered out of the track was filmed after the Twin 125s.
The scene where Cole was helicoptered out of the track was filmed after the Twin 125s.
Tom Cruise and Rick Hendrick were friends who co-drove cars in sports car races. As a result, Hendrick Motorsports prepared cars for the filming. At the end, there was a junkyard of wrecked movie cars behind their shop.
Filming Days of Thunder convinced Mello Yello to enter NASCAR in real life. They initially reached a deal to sponsor Darrell Waltrip in 1991 but backed out when Darrell broke his leg in July 1990. Mello Yello instead went to Kyle Petty's car between 91-94.
When the movie first came out, NASCAR drivers were quick to point out that they didn't crash as much in real life. Days later, a 24 car crash happened on lap 1 at Daytona.
"The idiots wrecked. They saw the damn movie, I guess. They started acting like the movie." - Geoff Bodine
"The idiots wrecked. They saw the damn movie, I guess. They started acting like the movie." - Geoff Bodine
Here's the original, unused design for Cole Trickle's Mello Yello car https://twitter.com/LASTCARonBROCK/status/1147199618276458497?s=19
For a while, the movie wasn't too popular inside NASCAR. In 1994, Kyle Petty even called it "maybe the dumbest racing movie ever made."
But as new drivers came in who saw the movie as kids, Days of Thunder has kept growing in popularity even over the last 15 years.
But as new drivers came in who saw the movie as kids, Days of Thunder has kept growing in popularity even over the last 15 years.
For all the little insignificant things that were wrong with Days of Thunder, the wildest thing for me is that Nicole Kidman was only 22 when it was filmed. Honestly, she really did a good job making a 22 year-old Australian brain surgeon believable. 
