Probably best well known for his role in the Mission: Impossible movies, Tom Cruise is a versatile actor, going from action packed scenes to showing us the money in Jerry Maguire not to mention pretty much every role in between. And even though his act of hopping up and down Oprah’s couch may have been a little questionable, there’s no questioning Mr. Cruise’s DNA for thrilling action.

Cruise took a break from filming his newest Mission: Impossible flick to take on some real world thrills with Red Bull. He headed out to Southern California’s Willow Springs raceway, and after chatting it up with F1 star David Coulthard, got behind the wheel of his F1 race car to see what he’s made of. And the results are pretty impressive, with Cruise hitting 181-mph on the 2.5-mile track, just 4-mph shy of the 13-time Grand Prix winner, Coulthard – who was also his instructor.

And if that wasn’t thrilling enough for Cruise, he decided to do some stunt flying in Red Bull’s helicopter, further proof that he’s a thrill seeker on and off the Hollywood camera.

Check out the video after the jump:

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Hollywood actor Tom Cruise has recently tested the Red Bull Formula One race car at the Willow Springs racetrack in California. Tom Cruise completed 24 laps with the Red Bull team, and guiding the top gun along the track was race car driver David Coulthard.

Coulthard took Cruise around the track in a passenger car, then set him off on his own. Tom Cruise set his own lap in the F1 car reaching a top speed of 185 mph, and cut his best time by 11 seconds. Amazingly, Cruise recorded a top speed just 4 mph off Coulthard’s best.

“Tom’s the real deal,” Coulthard told RedBull.com. “I was surprised that he picked it up so quickly and is such an accomplished driver. His recall was incredible considering how complicated driving an F1 car is. He’s a guy who really pushes the envelope in real life. This day was not green screened. He thoroughly impressed me.”

[Source: ESPN]

If you own an Aston Martin (and were pretty sure some of you actually do), keep reading, you might be interested in this bit of news: Aston Martin of Beverly Hills in conjunction with ESX Motorsports is holding a special track day for owners of these British exotics.

The event will be held on April 8, 2011 at the Willow Springs Raceway, and the organizer will provide helmets, driver training and food. Aston Martin of Beverly Hills will subsidize the cost of this event, so your cost will be just $495 per vehicle and a party of two.

So if you want to see what your One-77, DB9, DBS, Virage, V8 – V12 Vantage or Rapide (or any other Aston you might own) can do, this might be just the event you’ve been waiting for.

[Source: Aston Martin BH]

Motorsports is all about bending the rules. And as they say, if you’re not cheating, you’re losing. Chris Rado and his World Racing Scion tC are not losing.

In fact, at the recent Redline Time Attack at Willow Springs Rado dominated in the front-wheel drive Unlimited class posting a 1:22.623 lap time – setting a new record for a front-wheel drive vehicle at the track.

How did he do it? Isn’t it obvious? He stuck a ridiculous looking wing on the front of his tC race car, giving those front tires all the downforce they need.

We’re certain all the other competitors laughed at him… while he sprayed them with champagne from the top of the podium.

[Source: Speedhunters]

[Photography: Mike Garrett]