Days of Thunder - Production

Production

The cars used as those of Cole Trickle, Rowdy Burns and Russ Wheeler were provided by Hendrick Motorsports, with racers Greg Sacks, Bobby Hamilton and Hut Stricklin as the stunt drivers. These cars actually raced during the 1989 Winston Cup Season at Phoenix, where stunt driver Bobby Hamilton officially qualified 5th and led a lap while other cars were pitting before retiring from the race, and the 1990 Winston Cup season at Daytona, Darlington. The cars were officially scored for the Phoenix race in 1989, but were not for the 1990 races, likely because of Hamilton's strong run the year before. Cole's first car in the film is sponsored by City Chevrolet, a real-life car dealership in Charlotte, North Carolina, owned by Rick Hendrick.

Principal photography took place in early 1990 in and around Charlotte and Daytona. It was plagued with delays due to frequent arguments on set between Simpson and Bruckheimer, Scott, and sometimes Towne over how to set up a shot. Crewmembers sat idle for long hours; some later said they had accumulated enough overtime pay to go on vacation for a full four months after filming was completed. The completion date was pushed back many times, finally reaching the end of May, three months later than it had originally been scheduled. At one point, following the third revision of the shooting schedule in a single day, the unit production manager, who represents the studio on the set or location, confronted Simpson and Bruckheimer and was told bluntly that the schedule no longer mattered.

In Daytona, Simpson and Bruckheimer spent $400,000 to have a vacant storefront in their hotel converted into their private gym, with a large neon sign reading "Days of Thunder." Simpson also kept a closet full of Donna Karan dresses to offer the attractive women his assistants found on the beach, and held private parties with friends like rapper Tone Lōc. Towne also played a role in the film's increasing cost by scrapping more barn scenes when he didn't like either of two barns built to his specifications. The film's original budget of $35 million ($62.3 million in modern dollars) nearby doubled; at that level it would have had to make at least $100 million, a rare gross at that time, to break even. Despite the budget overruns and delays, reportedly it was only after shooting was finished that the filmmakers discovered they had neglected to film Cole Trickle's car crossing the finish line at Daytona.