Cars 3

Lightning McQueen, now a five-time Piston Cup champion, finds himself overshadowed by Jackson Storm, an arrogant rookie who is the first among a new generation of race cars with advanced technology to enhance performance. As Storm wins throughout the season, many racing veterans retire or are replaced by younger and faster rookies. In the final race at Los Angeles, Lightning briefly leads but falls behind after being overtaken by Storm and other rookies. He struggles to keep up, loses control, and has a massive rollover crash after hitting the wall and blowing over, prematurely ending his worst season on record as Storm wins the Piston Cup. Four months later, Lightning decides that he will continue racing and calls his sponsors, Rusty and Dusty, who reveal they have sold Rust-eze to a wealthy business car named Sterling. Sterling assigns Lightning to train at the Rust-eze Racing Center under Cruz Ramirez, where he struggles to adapt to the modern training methods. After Lightning accidentally damages a simulator, Sterling tries to force him to retire. Adamant that he can still race, Lightning offers that if he wins the upcoming Florida 500, he can decide if he wants to keep racing; otherwise, he will retire immediately. Sterling reluctantly accepts the deal, but on the condition that he must train with Cruz. Cruz's unconventional training methods and lack of real-world racing experience frustrate Lightning as they attempt to record his top speed at Fireball Beach. When Lightning decides to train at Thunder Hollow, they realize it is being used for a figure-8-style demolition derby called the "Crazy Eight" and are forced to participate in disguise, in which Cruz wins and accidentally reveals him to the public. Lightning angrily yells at Cruz after the demolition derby and accidentally breaks her trophy. Cruz reveals that she had always wanted to be a racer thanks to Lightning but was never confident enough to enter a race, so she resigns as Lightning's trainer and heads back to the racing center. Ashamed and without other options, Lightning calls his friend Mater for advice, who suggests that Lightning track down Lightning's late mentor Doc Hudson's former mentor and crew chief Smokey in his hometown of Thomasville, Georgia. Lightning catches up to Cruz and convinces her to rejoin him. In Thomasville, they meet up with Smokey, who reveals that, even though Doc never raced again, he found new happiness in training Lightning. After Lightning accepts that he will never be as fast as Storm, Smokey and Doc's old friends, Louise "Barnstormer" Nash, River Scott, and Junior "Midnight" Moon, help him learn new tricks to overcome his speed disadvantage, with Cruz serving as his sparring partner. After many attempts, Lightning finally manages to pass Cruz during the final practice race. However, Cruz suddenly overtakes Lightning, which causes him to remember being passed by Storm before his crash, shaking his confidence. At the Florida 500, Lightning starts at the back but moves up the ranks with Smokey's help. Sterling doubts Lightning's capability and orders Cruz back to the training center, despite her desire to stay. Hearing them on his radio and recalling Cruz's racing dream, Lightning sidesteps a huge pile-up and has his crew prepare Cruz to race in his place, giving her a chance to succeed.