The Best NASCAR Driver

Tom Cruise gazes into the abyss...
Photo courtesy of mattfind.com

“I’m more of afraid of bein’ nothin’ than I am of being hurt,” Cole Trickle tells his love interest Dr. Claire Lewicki.

In his second collaboration with director Tony Scott, Tom Cruise follows up his Oscar nod with another groundbreaking action flick, one that never happens to shy away from character development either. Simply put, Days of Thunder is to NASCAR what Ben-Hur was to creaky-old, boring-ass chariots – that is to say, this endlessly thrilling film rocks the house.   

As shown throughout the movie, there’s both a good and bad way to display belief in oneself. When Trickle first rides up on his motorcycle, completely out of nowhere mind you, he takes to the track for the very first time as a total natural. Simply put, we as the audience immediately root for him. Trickle exhibits himself as being more of a cool and confident character than he does a cocky one. At the same time, however, when replacement driver Russ Wheeler comes along, played by Cary Elwes, we are turned off by his deliberately cocky nature, sensing a no-good dirty villain, which of course turns out to be the case.

In addition to being both cool and confident, Trickle’s got a temper to boot – setting up some top-notch action scenes that take place off the track as well, including a wheelchair race through the hospital (clearly Trickle has the advantage in this scene, being that Cruise’s previous film was Born on the Fourth of July).

Through the development of Trickle’s relationship with his joking but equally haunted mentor Harry (Robert Duvall), we eventually learn Trickle carries his own fair share of fears, which he aims to conquer in the grandest of fashions.

“Harry, this guy’s goin’ down!” Trickle yells into his headset, speaking of the no-good dirty villain Wheeler.

In the final lap, Trickle then outsmarts Wheeler by maneuvering Mellow Yellow down low, passing the Hardee’s vehicle on the inside to secure 1st place. After witnessing Trickle win Daytona in a squeaker like this, we rejoice in his victory as though it were our own.

This is why Tom Cruise will always be…the best NASCAR driver.