On May 15, 2025, Chase Elliott stepped into the spotlight of Tinseltown, partnering with Paramount Pictures to promote Tom Cruise’s latest blockbuster, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. It’s a crossover that feels like a high-speed lap, blending the raw energy of stock car racing with the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, and it’s got fans buzzing with excitement.
Elliott, with his 19 career wins and 2020 Cup Series Championship, has always had a way of connecting with people, whether he’s battling for a win at a road course or sharing a glimpse of his life off the track. This collaboration with Cruise, a Hollywood legend known for pushing the limits with jaw-dropping stunts, is more than just a promotional moment—it’s a bridge between two worlds that thrives on adrenaline and is driven by NASCAR’s incentive!
Chase Elliott approves of the Mission: Impossible hype
Ahead of the 2025 season, NASCAR introduced a Driver’s Incentive Program. An initiative that awards drivers potentially $1 million for promoting the sport off-track by attending podcasts or appearing in promotional events. Chase Elliott has not been one who does a lot of promotional events. He even declined to take part in season 2 of NASCAR: Full Speed, the Netflix series that goes behind the scenes of Cup Series action. However, this program seems to have birthed a new Elliott, one who is going beyond his normal practices to promote the sport he is a 7-time Most Popular driver of.
Chase Elliott lit up social media with a post on X, sharing a photo of himself standing in front of a massive Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning poster, captioned, “Got the chance to catch an early screening… Action packed and made for the big screen on IMAX. Check it out in theaters May 23rd! #MissionImpossible”.
The image captures Elliott in his signature laid-back style—gray t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers—grinning beside a poster that screams high-stakes action, featuring Cruise with a yellow stunt plane. It’s a moment that feels genuine, like a guy who lives for speed geeking out over a film that matches his intensity on the track.
Got the chance to catch an early screening of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Action packed and made for the big screen on IMAX. Check it out in theaters May 23rd! #MissionImpossible pic.twitter.com/LF3QkDREFr
— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) May 15, 2025
The movie itself is a beast, carrying a staggering $400 million budget, one of the biggest in the Mission: Impossible franchise, as reported by Reuters. Set to hit theaters on May 23, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the grand finale of Ethan Hunt’s saga, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who’s been Cruise’s go-to for the series’ most daring chapters. The film promises jaw-dropping stunts, like a 20-minute car chase sequence that left CinemaCon audiences floored, and a death-defying plane stunt that had Cruise literally on the wing—something he insisted McQuarrie experience to understand its intensity.
Shot across global locations like Tokyo and Cannes, where it premiered out of competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2025, the film is crafted for IMAX to deliver an adrenaline rush that rivals a NASCAR race. It’s the kind of cinematic spectacle that’s been in the works since 2019, when Cruise planned it as a two-part finale with Dead Reckoning Part One, though production faced delays from the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes.
For Chase Elliott, promoting this film feels like a natural fit—his life on the track mirrors the film’s intensity, and his down-to-earth vibe makes him the perfect ambassador to rally NASCAR fans to the theaters, setting the stage for even bigger collaborations with Cruise.
Could a Days of Thunder sequel bring Cruise back to NASCAR?
The buzz around Elliott and Cruise gets even juicier with talk of a potential Days of Thunder sequel, a project that could bring Cruise back to the racetrack. Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports’ vice chairman and a mentor to Chase Elliott, shared his excitement earlier this year, saying, “I’ve absolutely talked to Tom about it because I want him to do the project, and we want to be a part of it if it were to happen,” while speaking to NASCAR.com. Gordon’s enthusiasm is infectious—he’s dreaming of a sequel that could capture the magic of the original while showcasing Hendrick’s modern legacy, and Elliott’s recent link-up with Cruise only fuels that hope.
The 1990 Days of Thunder film, a fan favorite, drew inspiration from real NASCAR racers like Tim Richmond, with Cruise’s character, Cole Trickle, embodying the sport’s gritty, rebellious spirit. The movie wasn’t just fiction—it featured cameos from legends like Richard Petty and Rusty Wallace, grounding its story in the real-world intensity of NASCAR’s golden era. Now, with a sequel reportedly in early development at Paramount, there’s a chance to revive that legacy, blending Cruise’s passion for authentic, practical stunts with the high-stakes drama of today’s NASCAR, where drivers like Elliott dominate the headlines.
For Elliott, the idea of a Days of Thunder sequel hits close to home—he races for Hendrick Motorsports, the same team that influenced the original film’s story, and he grew up watching Cruise’s portrayal of a racer’s life. A sequel could be a full-circle moment, not just for NASCAR but for Elliott personally, offering a chance to honor the sport’s past while bringing its present into the Hollywood spotlight.
As he builds this connection with Cruise through Mission: Impossible, fans can’t help but dream of seeing him on set, maybe even in a cameo, as the sequel aims to capture the heart-pounding essence of racing for a new generation.
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