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50 free Days of Thunder trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Days of Thunder is Top Gun with stock cars: Tom Cruise as Cole Trickle, Robert Duvall as crew chief Harry Hogge, Michael Rooker as Rowdy Burns, and Nicole Kidman as the neurosurgeon who patches Cole up after Daytona. This quiz covers the film front to back: the car numbers and sponsors, the slingshot and the crossover, the rental-car race on the beach, the real drivers the characters were based on, and the cameos by Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace and Neil Bonnett. It also goes behind the camera, where the shoot ran three months over, the budget nearly doubled, the producers built a private neon-lit gym in a Daytona hotel, and the finish-line shot was forgotten entirely. Then the music: Hans Zimmer's first Bruckheimer score, Jeff Beck on guitar, David Coverdale singing the theme at Cruise's request, and Maria McKee's Show Me Heaven going to number one in Britain. A few questions reach the video games and the sequel Cruise agreed to make. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the film, its soundtrack, its games and the drivers, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up. Made for NASCAR fans, Cruise completists and 1990s movie night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which studio released Days of Thunder in June 1990?
Paramount Pictures
Simpson and Bruckheimer had a long relationship with the studio going back to Flashdance and Top Gun.
Q 02Who directed the film?
Tony Scott
Scott, Cruise, Simpson and Bruckheimer had made Top Gun together four years earlier, and critics noticed the resemblance.
Q 03Robert Duvall plays Cole's crew chief. What is his name?
Harry Hogge
He was patterned on Harry Hyde, the real Hendrick crew chief of the 1980s.
Q 04Who plays the reigning champion who becomes Cole's rival and then his friend?
Michael Rooker
Rowdy drives the No. 51 Exxon Chevrolet and was patterned on the Intimidator himself.
Q 05Nicole Kidman's character Dr. Claire Lewicki has what medical specialty?
Neurosurgeon
Cruise and Kidman met on the film and married in December 1990.
Q 06What number is Cole Trickle's City Chevrolet?
46
City Chevrolet was the real dealership in Charlotte owned by the team owner Daland is based on; Cole later drives a No. 51 car.
Q 07Which soft drink sponsors the car Cole drives late in the film?
Mello Yello
A year later Mello Yello really did sponsor Kyle Petty's No. 42 Pontiac with the movie paint scheme.
Q 08Cole Trickle's character was primarily patterned on which real driver?
Tim Richmond
Richmond, nicknamed 'Hollywood', died of AIDS complications in 1989; his surname is a nod to Dick Trickle.
Q 09Team owner Tim Daland, played by Randy Quaid, was based on which NASCAR owner?
Rick Hendrick
His team supplied the cars, and Cruise's dinner with him in 1987 sparked the whole idea.
Q 10Cary Elwes plays Russ Wheeler, who drives the No. 18 car sponsored by which fast-food chain?
Hardee's
Wheeler was patterned on Rusty Wallace, who cameos as himself and later reviewed the film for the AP.
Q 11Fred Dalton Thompson plays NASCAR president Big John, based on which real figure?
Bill France
The scene where he orders the rivals to dinner mirrors a real Bill France Jr. meeting with Earnhardt and Geoff Bodine.
Q 12Before NASCAR, Cole was a champion in what series?
World of Outlaws sprint cars
That is why he struggles with the heavier stock cars and doesn't understand the crew's jargon at first.
Q 13At which track does Cole win his first race, using a slingshot from the outside line?
Darlington
Harry's rigorous training pays off there after crashes and blown engines at Bristol, Dover and Rockingham.
Q 21Producer Don Simpson cameos as a driver named Aldo Benedetti, patterned on whom?
Mario Andretti
The first name comes from Mario's twin brother Aldo.
Q 22Which Oscar-winning character actress made her film debut as Harry's timekeeper?
Margo Martindale
She went on to win three Emmys for Justified and The Americans.
Q 23Who wrote the screenplay?
Robert Towne
The Chinatown writer scrapped two purpose-built barns he didn't like, adding to the cost.
Q 24The star pitched the idea after testing a stock car at Daytona in 1987 with which actor?
Q 14Cole and Rowdy are both seriously hurt in a crash at which race?
The Firecracker 400 at Daytona
Cole recovers in Daytona Beach, which is how he meets Dr. Lewicki.
Q 15How do Cole and Rowdy settle their differences after Big John's warning?
Racing rental cars on the beach
The scene loosely references 1950s stars Joe Weatherly and Curtis Turner trashing rental cars.
Q 16Why does Rowdy ask Cole to drive his car in the Daytona 500?
He needs brain surgery
A broken blood vessel means the operation, and Rowdy needs the car to run so his sponsor pays for the year.
Q 17What does Harry find in the oil pan hours before the Daytona 500?
Metal
It means the engine is failing, and Daland comes through with a replacement despite having fired them both.
Q 18How does Cole beat Russ on the last lap of the Daytona 500?
A crossover move to the inside
Russ expects the outside slingshot; Cole fakes it and dives inside instead.
Q 19What incident cost Harry his previous NASCAR job a year before the film opens?
An investigation into driver Buddy Bretherton's death
Buddy's son Buck, played by John C. Reilly, becomes Cole's car chief.
Q 20Which of these real drivers did NOT appear as himself in the film?
Dale Earnhardt
Harry Gant also cameos, ESPN's Dr. Jerry Punch appears, and Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett play radio announcers.
Paul Newman
They drove Hendrick Busch Grand National cars alongside Darrell Waltrip and Geoff Bodine.
Q 25What was the film's original budget, before it nearly doubled?
$35 million
Filming finished three months late and post-production was squeezed into five weeks instead of five months.
Q 26What shot did the filmmakers reportedly forget to capture until after shooting had wrapped?
Cole's car crossing the finish line at Daytona
Simpson and Bruckheimer had spent $400,000 turning a hotel storefront into a private neon-signed gym.
Q 27Roughly how much of the budget went to the film's star?
$9 million plus a share of the gross
Some budget was cut when Cruise lost the Oscar for Born on the Fourth of July.
Q 28Which team provided the Chevrolet Lumina stock cars used in the film?
Hendrick Motorsports
Greg Sacks, Bobby Hamilton, Tommy Ellis and Hut Stricklin drove them in real races at Phoenix and Daytona to get footage.
Q 29Who composed the score, his first for a Jerry Bruckheimer production?
Hans Zimmer
Zimmer said the whole reason he took the job was a subterfuge to work with guitarist Jeff Beck.
Q 30Which Whitesnake singer performed the theme 'The Last Note of Freedom' at the star's request?
David Coverdale
He recorded it on a day off from the Slip of the Tongue tour; Billy Idol co-wrote the lyrics.