Radiance McQueen sighed as she pressed the button to turn off the television. She should be pleased and proud, her brother Lightning had just won his fifth piston cup and was obviously successfully dating a Porsche named Sally Carrera, but Radiance wasn't happy. She hadn't spoken to her brother in almost five years, and highly doubted that he spoke of his family, even to his girlfriend. It was time to end this rift that was instigated by their parents in a moment of desperation. Radiance knew that their parents, Hans and Christina McQueen, hadn't meant to separate their children by their actions and that their concern had merely backfired in the worst possible manner. She knew that when Hans had learnt of Lightning's intent to race, he hadn't thought about the consequences of trying to prevent him from doing so. Radiance herself knew that Lightning had dreamed of racing ever since he was built, especially since she had shared the dream while growing up alongside him. Only two years older, Lightning had been Radiance's role model, as well as her protector and her best friend while growing up. Radiance missed him desperately, which would be why she was hiding within a cramped motel room one hundred and fifty miles from her destination: Radiator Springs. It was also why she had finally gone against her parents' wishes and had finally gone to seek out her long lost brother: Lightning McQueen, the famous race car.
