AMC’s Thunder Road project has just gained a major NASCAR connection. The drama series, set to premiere on AMC and AMC+, was first announced in 2025. Earlier this year, in April, it was revealed that 72-year-old Dennis Quaid would headline the series. However, it’s the latest casting revelation that could have NASCAR fans particularly excited.

Haley Dillon, wife of Kaulig Racing driver Ty Dillon, has landed a guest role in Thunder Road, which is set to premiere in 2027 as AMC joins forces with NASCAR Studios for what marks a historic first for the sanctioning body. Dillon will play Dakota Voss in the series, whose character can turn ‘data into wins’.

Dillon’s character, Voss, will be portrayed as NASCAR’s youngest lead race engineer, drawing on her aerospace background to help Farley Performance, the fictional team at the center of the series, as reported by Deadline.

Dillon, who is well-known for playing Dixie in the series Blue Ridge, will join a cast that includes, Chase Stokes, Michael Rooker, Matt Barr, and Maggie Grace. Although this drama series isn’t related to the upcoming Tom Cruise sequel to Days of Thunder, there’s also an interesting connection to one of the actors in the series.

Rooker played Rowdy Burns in the original Days of Thunder film released in 1990. Burns was Cruise’s character Cole Trickle’s on-screen rival, and he was the inspiration behind two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch’s world-famous nickname, ‘Rowdy’.

In Thunder Road, Rooker will play Lucas Farley, the patriarch of the Farleys and the owner of Farley Performance, the same fictional team Dillon’s character will work for. The Farleys will serve as rivals to the show’s protagonist family, the Whitlocks. Interestingly, 37 years after Days of Thunder, Rooker once again finds himself playing a rival to the story’s central heroes.

The (fictional) Whitlocks are a blue-collar racing family with deep roots in Southern moonshine runs and dirt-track racing. Now fighting to save their family empire, they must deal with fierce rivals on the track while also dealing with conflicts within the family.

Quad will play Duane Whitlock, the family patriarch and a racing legend who is determined to protect the legacy he built. Stokes, meanwhile, will play a rebellious driver with an outlaw attitude. Once seen as a promising racer, his off-track antics cost him his place in the sport, forcing him to settle for a role on his family’s pit crew.

Matt Barr will play Calvin Whitlock, Duane’s ambitious eldest son. After being pushed out of the family racing business, Calvin now runs the Victory Lane Tap Room while trying to find a way to turn his business ideas into success and escape his growing debt.

Neither Haley nor Ty Dillon has commented on her involvement in the project yet. Still, the news is likely to catch plenty of attention in the NASCAR garage, given Haley’s ties to Ty and her brother-in-law, Richard Childress Racing Cup Series driver Austin Dillon. Both Ty and Austin are grandsons of NASCAR legend and longtime team owner Richard Childress, who has six Cup Series championships to his name.

NASCAR Studios has previously produced documentaries and feature series centered on real-life drivers and the sport’s history. However, Thunder Road marks a new direction. The studio is teaming up with a production house to tell a fictional NASCAR story and showcase the sport from a different perspective.

“We are thrilled to team up with NASCAR, a world-class partner that continues to engage and entertain their deeply loyal fans for nearly 80 years,” Dan McDermott, Chief Content Officer of AMC Global Media said, per Deadline.

For Haley Dillon, Thunder Road is a chance to bring her NASCAR ties to the screen in a different way. With the series set to debut in 2027, fans will have to wait and see what Dakota Voss brings to the Whitlock-Farley rivalry.