Cars 3 (2017)

Lightning McQueen is now a 7-time Piston Cup winner and seems to still be at the top of his game. However, this is compromised when next-generation rookies like Jackson Storm, who utilize advanced technology and training methods, start replacing a lot of the veterans. As Storm’s success attracts other rookies, many older racers retire or are pushed out. In the final race of the season at Los Angeles, McQueen starts falling behind Storm after both of them pitted. He tries to keep up, but in doing so suffers a violent crash, leaving him badly injured and ending his worst season on record prematurely.

After recovering, McQueen decides he will continue racing and calls the Rusteze owners, who reveal they have sold the team to a new owner named Sterling. Sterling assigns McQueen to train under Cruz Ramirez, where McQueen fails to adapt to the modern training methods. Because of this, Sterling tries to force him to retire. Adamant that he can still compete, McQueen instead offers that if he wins the first race of the season, he can decide if he wants to keep racing, otherwise he would retire immediately. McQueen tries to train on nearby Fireball Beach, but ends up spending most of his time teaching Cruz how to drive on the sandy terrain. McQueen then attempts to join a race incognito at a famous dirt track called Thunder Hollow, but inadvertently enters a figure-8-style demolition derby with Cruz, which she wins albeit both of them hiding their identities.