Tom Cruise’s teammate or rival? NASCAR drivers pitch for ‘Days of Thunder’ sequel

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There isn’t another active NASCAR driver that has a list of film and television credits as long and as diverse as Ryan Blaney.

The mustached driver of the No. 12 Ford for Team Penske has been in racing movies like “Cars 3” and “Logan Lucky,” but he’s also popped up in roles on television shows like “Taken,” “Magnum P.I.,” and as a voice in the animated “Spider-Man.” Back in June, ahead of NASCAR’s unique street course race at Naval Base Coronado, Blaney was arguably the lead star of the Amazon-distributed short film “NASCAR vs. Navy,” in which a group of drivers go head-to-head with some hot-shot pilots.

Acting is a door that opened to Blaney not by just winning NASCAR races, but also by being an engaging and charismatic personality. And filmmaking is something that is very intriguing to him.

“There's a correlation between making movies and motorsports I think, because there's so much that goes on behind the scenes that you don't see that goes into it,” Blaney told USA TODAY Sports. “There's so many people that have their hands in this thing that aren't on screen or aren't on the racetrack, and those people are…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/