Tom Cruise may be preparing for another trip into the NASCAR world, but the “Days of Thunder” star traded race cars for football on Monday night.
Cruise was spotted alongside Taylor Swift at Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 14 as the Kansas City Chiefs opened their season against the Denver Broncos. ESPN cameras showed the two stars talking inside a luxury suite during the first quarter.
Swift was there to support her husband, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, in the first NFL game she attended since the couple married over the summer. Cruise was also a guest at their July wedding.
For NASCAR fans, however, Cruise’s appearance comes at an interesting time.
Less than three weeks earlier, the 64-year-old actor was at Daytona International Speedway to officially announce his return as Cole Trickle in the long-awaited sequel to “Days of Thunder.”
Now, one of Hollywood’s newest links to NASCAR has popped up in another corner of the sports world alongside arguably the biggest music star on the planet.
Tom Cruise Is Returning to NASCAR in ‘Days of Thunder’ Sequel
Cruise’s ties to NASCAR are about to become much more prominent.
He will reprise his role as Cole Trickle in the upcoming “Days of Thunder” sequel, nearly four decades after the original movie arrived in theaters in 1990.
The project was formally announced at Daytona in August, with Cruise appearing at the track ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale. Paramount Pictures has set a June 2, 2028 release date.
Anne Hathaway will star opposite Cruise as a race team owner and engineer, while Jonathan Levine is set to direct. Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer and Tommy Harper are producing the film.
Cruise will once again play Trickle, the fictional NASCAR driver at the center of the original Days of Thunder. The 1990 film followed Trickle’s rise through stock-car racing and became a lasting piece of NASCAR pop culture.
The sequel’s announcement has put Cruise back into the NASCAR spotlight in a major way.
Tom Cruise Has Already Made His NASCAR Return
Cruise didn’t simply use Daytona as the backdrop for a movie announcement.
His appearance placed him in the middle of NASCAR’s garage and racing community decades after the original film helped introduce stock-car racing to an enormous mainstream audience.
Cruise said the new film will again lean into the people, teamwork and culture surrounding NASCAR, while also teasing involvement from figures within the sport.
That made Monday night’s Chiefs game an unexpected crossover moment.
Instead of standing at Daytona or talking about getting back behind the wheel as Cole Trickle, Cruise was inside Arrowhead Stadium with Swift as Kansas City began its 2026 season.
Swift had her own reason to be there. She was supporting Kelce, whom she married over the summer, while Cruise was among the famous faces joining her inside the suite. Swift’s parents, Scott and Andrea, and Kelce’s mother, Donna, were also in attendance.
The Chiefs ultimately defeated Denver 31-10, giving Swift and Cruise plenty to celebrate from their seats.
For NASCAR fans, Cruise’s next major sports production will look considerably different.
Cole Trickle is coming back.
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