“He Had Pimples All Over his Face” – Dale Earnhardt Jr Once Took a Dig at Tom Cruise’s Height

In the 90s and early 2000s, Hollywood wanted a slice of the NASCAR pie. So in 1990, the cult classic Days of Thunder hit the theatres. This movie starred Tom Cruise, whose star was rising, especially on the back of Top Gun. Being someone who is fond of high-octane action, it wasn’t long before Cruise was totally on board with the idea of a NASCAR-themed movie. During the production process, there was a rumour that Dale Earnhardt would act alongside Cruise.

Naturally, Dale Earnhardt Jr was pretty thrilled at this prospect. So he and his sister Kelley were excited to see the Hollywood superstar for the first time. Dale Jr said, “We are excited, we are going to meet Tom Cruise. I and Kelley are there — we are giddy. And he comes in…he is five-foot shorter than I thought he’d be and he had pimples all over his face. I remember that.”

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Did Dale Earnhardt ever appear in the movie?

Sadly, the 7-time Cup Series champion did not make his Hollywood debut. Although, he was the inspiration for one of the characters in the movie. Cruise’s character Cole Trickle was modelled after Tim Richmond and Dick Trickle. Meanwhile, the character of Rowdy Burns was modelled after Dale Earnhardt and the legendary driver even met Cruise. That invitation was extended to his children and they were struck by how normal the actor was.

It is also worth mentioning that when the movie was released, there were various NASCAR cameos. To be precise, Richard Petty, Rusty Wallace, Neil Bonnett, Harry Gant, Benny Parson and Ned Jarrett made appearances. Since then, the movie has gone on to become one of the most beloved NASCAR movies, aside from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Apart from those two movies, there have been very few NASCAR-oriented movies in Hollywood. This does not include documentaries, of which there are several.

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