Tomfucker, lover of RPF

After days of filming [THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986)], [Paul] would go find some little 1/8-of-a-mile dirt track or something and take a few laps to blow off the steam. He had so much fun, he said [to Tom Cruise], “Hey, Tom, why don’t you come on out with me and have some fun running around this little racetrack?” Well, Tom had a ball. So Paul called me up, and he said, “Do you think Nissan would make a showroom stock car available for Tom?” The demographic for Tom for all of our sponsors was terrific. So, absolutely, Nissan was interested.

Tom wanted to win immediately … but I tried to get him to have the patience, and many times, you know, he was racing against people who had ten years’ experience on him. … But he’d tried to cover up a mistake immediately, which often got him into a bigger mistake. Paul pulled him aside. We sent him to [NASCAR racer Jim Fitzgerald, Paul Newman’s driving partner] half a dozen times down to road Atlanta. ‘Cause here’s the chief instructor Uncle Fitzy, and Fitzy loved Tom. They got along very, very well. And we put together his showroom stock two different classes, which led to Tom doing the film, DAYS OF THUNDER.