Scene of the Week: Days of Thunder

The Daytona 500 is truly The Great American Race. The event began in 1959 to coincide with the opening of the Daytona International Speedway and since 1982 has served as the season opening race in NASCAR’s Cup Series. Where television is concerned, the Daytona 500 has become the most watched race each year surpassing the famed Indianapolis 500. So it is no surprise that Hollywood would want to capitalize on the popularity of NASCARS’s biggest event of the year, and they did just that with the film Days of Thunder…

In early 1990, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer began work on Days of Thunder. The production of the film was said to be tumultuous at times with Simpson and Bruckheimer getting into arguments with director Tony Scott almost daily as they were all racing against time to get the film completed for a summer release. After almost doubling the budget (thanks in part to having to pay the crew exorbitant amount of overtime), the film managed to get released in late June of 1990 after it was initially scheduled for a Memorial Day weekend release.

Days of Thunder chronicles the rise of up and coming racer Cole Trickle, played by Tom Cruise in the peak of his box office super stardom. This week’s high octane Scene of the Week takes a look at the final race of the film as Cole Trickle battles Russ Wheeler (Cary Elwes) at the prestigious Daytona 500…