The Days of Thunder Sequel: Everything We Know (So Far)
What’s Happening? One of the more intriguing storylines in motorsports right now blends the worlds of racing and Hollywood, as rumors…
While Tom Cruise is circling a return to NASCAR through talks of a sequel to Days of Thunder, often dubbed Days of Thunder 2, Dennis Quaid is also hitting the track by way of television. The actor is ready to headline Thunder Road, an AMC series about stock car racing, with John Fusco, known for Young Guns and The Highwayman, holding the pen.
The project first came to light in November 2025, when AMC and Fusco were reported to be working in tandem. With Quaid now on board, the writers’ room in motion, development moving at a pace, and NASCAR partnering up for the production, the show appears to be on the fast track, with filming expected to begin this summer.
The series is billed as a multi-generational saga of the Whitlock family, whose roots in stock car racing run as deep as their ties to the southern hill country. Quaid will take on the role of Duane Whitlock, known as “The Wrecking Ball,” a figure cast as a NASCAR name who built a racing empire from moonshine runs and dirt tracks, and who refuses to let it slip through his fingers.
As the walls close in, Whitlock wrestles with family ties and the exertion of competition, all while trying to keep both his empire and legacy from going up in smoke.
The series marks the first time NASCAR will take center stage in a long-form drama, following its presence in films such as Days of Thunder and Netflix, now Amazon’s Full Speed docuseries. The project is being led by Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer of AMC Networks and President of AMC Studios.
What’s Happening? One of the more intriguing storylines in motorsports right now blends the worlds of racing and Hollywood, as rumors…
Quaid will bring a body of work that spans genres to the role. He has portrayed a serial killer in the Paramount+ series Happy Face, a television producer in The Substance, Ronald Reagan in Reagan, and a military sergeant in the War Machine, which stars Alan Ritchson.
His turn in a NASCAR story follows a run through sports-themed films, including The Rookie, Any Given Sunday, The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, The Long Game, Everybody’s All-American, and American Underdog. Having taken on roles tied to baseball, football, and golf, he now turns his eye toward NASCAR.
Beyond sport, his credits include The Parent Trap, The Day After Tomorrow, Vantage Point, Lawman: Bass Reeves, and The Special Relationship, the last of which earned him Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his portrayal of Bill Clinton.
He won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for Far From Heaven, directed by Todd Haynes, a role that also earned him Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. He was part of the ensemble cast that won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Traffic. His recent work includes I Can Only Imagine 2, as well as films such as G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and Something to Talk About.
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