Shane McRae has been cast as a series regular in AMC's upcoming stock car racing drama Thunder Road, joining a cast already led by Dennis Quaid. Variety reported the casting on 29 July 2026.

McRae will play Scooter Jakes, described as a whip-lean, weathered veteran of the NASCAR circuit who serves as crew chief to Trey in the legendary #28 car. The character is one of the only people that racing legend Duane Whitlock — played by Quaid — wants alongside him when the pressure peaks.

Thunder Road is a multi-generational saga centring on the fictional Whitlock family, whose stock car racing legacy runs as deep as their ties to their southern hill country roots. AMC greenlit the series in April 2026 with a planned launch in 2027 across both AMC and its streaming platform AMC+.

The partnership pairs AMC Studios with NASCAR Studios — a co-production that gives the network a scripted drama set inside the real-world racing organisation's ecosystem. John Fusco created the series and serves as executive producer. Taylor Elmore is attached as executive producer and showrunner, the person who oversees the writers' room and day-to-day creative direction of a series. Cliff Roberts of Syndicate Entertainment, Mark L. Smith, and NASCAR Studios' Tim Clark and John Dahl also serve as executive producers, with Gladys Cheng as producer.

The ensemble cast has been filling out steadily. Alongside Quaid and McRae, the series features Michael Rooker, Maggie Grace, Matt Barr, West Duchovny, Chase Stokes, and Devon Allman.

For McRae, the role adds to a busy television schedule. He currently stars as Knox in the Apple TV+ drama Silo, a part he has held since the show's first season. He also recently appeared in the FX series The Lowdown and will return for its second season. His earlier television credits include Sneaky Pete at Amazon, Alaska Daily at ABC, Paradise Lost for Spectrum Originals, and The Following at Fox. On the film side, he has appeared in The Help, Still Alice, and The Adjustment Bureau. McRae is represented by Gersh.

AMC has been building its scripted slate around established IP and real-world partnerships, and Thunder Road sits squarely in that strategy — a drama that leverages NASCAR's built-in audience while telling an original family story. The 2027 launch window gives the production time to assemble its writers' room and begin filming ahead of a planned premiere that is still well down the road.