Days of Thunder Trivia
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42 free Days of Thunder trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Sep 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 42 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which studio released Days of Thunder in June 1990?
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures had pushed out Don Simpson as its head of production, then signed him and Jerry Bruckheimer to a producing deal.
Q 02Who directed Days of Thunder?
Tony Scott
Tony Scott reunited with Tom Cruise and producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, who built the film as a reprise of their earlier hit.
Q 03In Days of Thunder, which line does crew chief Harry Hogge say to Cole?
Rubbin' is racin'
Rubbin' is racin', Harry says, insisting Rowdy didn't slam Cole but rubbed him, just before Cole loses control and wrecks.
Q 04In Days of Thunder, who plays the reigning champion who becomes Cole's rival and then his friend?
Michael Rooker
Michael Rooker's champion later hands his own car to Cole for the Daytona 500 when he can't race himself.
Q 05Nicole Kidman's character Dr. Claire Lewicki has what medical specialty?
Neurosurgeon
Neurosurgeon Claire Lewicki was played by Nicole Kidman, who went on to marry her co-star Tom Cruise.
Q 06After Cole causes a crash, what does Harry tell him to hit while still under caution?
The pace car
The pace car, Harry says, because Cole has already hit every other thing out there and Harry wants him to be perfect.
Q 07Which soft drink sponsors Cole Trickle's car late in Days of Thunder?
Mello Yello
Mello Yello turned fiction into fact, carrying the movie's paint scheme on a real No. 42 Cup car from 1991 to 1994.
Q 08Cole Trickle's character was loosely patterned on which real driver?
Tim Richmond
Tim Richmond's life was cut short by AIDS in 1989, the year before the film came out.
Q 09Team owner Tim Daland, played by Randy Quaid, was based on which NASCAR owner?
Rick Hendrick
Rick Hendrick's team supplied the movie's Chevrolets, and stand-in drivers raced them in real NASCAR events to film footage.
Q 10Cary Elwes plays Russ Wheeler, who drives the No. 18 car sponsored by which fast-food chain?
Hardee's
Hardee's backs the new team of Russ Wheeler, the rookie hired to sub for the injured Cole, who then becomes his bitter teammate.
Q 11Fred Dalton Thompson plays NASCAR president Big John, based on which real figure?
Bill France
Bill France Jr., then running NASCAR, once summoned two feuding drivers to a meeting, which the film recreates when Big John orders its rivals to dinner.
Q 12Before NASCAR, Cole Trickle had been a champion in what kind of racing?
Sprint cars
Sprint cars made Cole a champion, but he admits he knows stock car racing only from watching it on ESPN.
Q 13At which track does Cole win his first race, using a slingshot from the outside line?
Darlington
Darlington is where Cole finally passes Rowdy with the outside slingshot, after a run of crashes and blown engines.
Q 21In Days of Thunder, how do the injured rivals Cole and Rowdy race each other while recovering?
In wheelchairs
In wheelchairs, the two injured rivals race through the hospital, and soon afterward they become friends.
Q 22Who wrote the screenplay for Days of Thunder?
Robert Towne
Robert Towne shaped the story with Tom Cruise, but critics said the finished script leaned on stock plotting and racing cliches.
Q 23Tom Cruise pitched Days of Thunder after testing a stock car at Daytona in 1987 with which actor?
Paul Newman
Paul Newman caught the racing bug making the film Winning and later founded his own professional racing team.
Q 14Cole and Rowdy are both seriously hurt in a crash at which race?
The Firecracker 400 at Daytona
The Firecracker 400 at Daytona leaves Cole in hospital in Daytona Beach, where he falls for his doctor, Claire Lewicki.
Q 15How do Cole and Rowdy settle their differences after Big John's warning?
Racing rental cars
Racing rental cars follows Big John's order that the two rivals drive to dinner together.
Q 16Why does Rowdy ask Cole to drive his car in the Daytona 500?
He needs an operation
He needs an operation on a busted blood vessel, and his sponsors will only pick up the tab for the year if his car runs well.
Q 17What turns up in the oil hours before the Daytona 500, forcing Harry to change engines?
Metal
Metal in the oil signals a failing engine, so Harry's crew has to swap in a replacement just before Cole starts the Daytona 500.
Q 18How does Cole beat Russ on the last lap of the Daytona 500?
A crossover move to the inside
A crossover move to the inside fools Russ, who is sure Cole will go for his usual outside slingshot.
Q 19What did crew chief Harry Hogge quit NASCAR to avoid?
An investigation into a driver's death
An investigation into a driver's death followed Buddy Bretherton's crash at Daytona, and Daland got NASCAR to drop it so Harry would return.
Q 20When Claire tells Cole control is an illusion, what does she call drivers?
Infantile egomaniacs
Infantile egomaniacs, Claire says, since nobody knows what will happen next, not on a freeway and certainly not on a racetrack.
Q 24How does Cole Trickle make his first entrance in Days of Thunder?
On a motorcycle
On a motorcycle, Cole arrives, then vows to win next year's Daytona 500, a promise he keeps.
Q 25Which Days of Thunder shot was reportedly missed until filming wrapped?
Cole's car crossing the finish line at Daytona
Cole's car crossing the finish line at Daytona was reportedly left unshot until filming wrapped, amid on-set power struggles involving producer Don Simpson.
Q 26When Harry Hogge talks to the race car alone, what does he ask it to do?
Take care of Cole
Take care of Cole, Harry tells the car, warning that if it gets out of control it could hurt Cole, or Cole could hurt it.
Q 27In Days of Thunder, what does Harry show Cole he ruins by driving his own way?
His tires
His tires come back ruined from Cole's own laps but lightly worn from Harry's way, which runs six seconds faster.
Q 28Who 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 29Who sang 'Show Me Heaven' on the Days of Thunder soundtrack?
Maria McKee
Maria McKee found the demo's lyrics appalling and agreed to sing it only if she could rewrite the words.
Q 30Why does Harry say race car drivers stay away from funerals?
Reminders of danger
Reminders of danger are what drivers can't stand, Harry says, so the only time one goes to a funeral is when he's actually dead.