This is humanized, which is a first for me in Cars, it got changed into being humanized fairly early on because it worked better with where it was going.
Every few years the big wigs of the many different vehicular racing corporations would put together a big racing convention and invite all the big names of the racing world. The last one had happened just before he had started racing. So, he wasn't sure what to expect.
He did think though, that he would have been sat at a table with other racers who were pilots, not race car drivers. To make things worse, he was not only, the only pilot, but it was clear to him that the four people already at the table knew each other quite well. At least that's what it seemed like to him as he watched them joke around, as he walked a safe distance from the table, scoping it out.
He liked to think of himself as confident but if you asked any of his long-time friends (mainly Chug and Dottie) they would describe him as a bit of a fan boy with some nervous and excitable qualities but a heart of gold. Most would agree with that, once they knew him at all.
He was nervous but tried to put up a facade of confidence, as he avoided the table a bit longer. The other racers had obviously seen him passing by this time, as some of them were elbowing each other and trying to point him out to the others without it seeming like they were pointing at him.
He did know enough about the auto racing world to know that the racers at his assigned table were in the Piston Cup Series. He also knew that those at the table were some of the biggest names in the Piston Cup currently.
The one who was the most recognizable was the Rust-eze racer Lightning McQueen. He didn't think anyone didn't know who Lightning McQueen was; even if they didn't follow racing they'd know him from one of three things, either his disappearance his rookie year (which he did end up watching the tie breaker race live with Chug and Dottie) or the more recent Allinol scandal or Mayday's favourite, the Rust-eze ads.
He was assuming that the man with the Dinoco blue tie was Cal Weathers, nephew to The King, Strip Weathers. McQueen and Weathers were the easiest ones to know. McQueen because of the before mentioned reasons and that said mentioned reasons had lead to plenty of time on the news. Weathers was easy because he was the face of Dinoco and everyone knew who the current face of Dinoco was because he was plastered everywhere, it didn't have to be race related.
The other two were a little harder but again he kept up enough with the sport and they were well known enough, to know one was Junior something or other, his last name was escaping him right now and the other was Bobby Swift.
Only a couple tables over he could see El Chu who, while not wearing his mask that he would while racing, was still wearing his cape with some of the other pilots from the Wings Around the Globe rally, they looked like they were having fun, since everyone there knew each other. He just knew this was going to be awkward. They'd have nothing to talk about, but since they had seen him he knew he was just going to have to go over and face them.
"Um, hi I'm Dusty Crophopper." He said with a bit of a wave.
"Don't be nervous, we don't bite." Lightning said with a friendly smile.
"Much." Tacked on Bobby.
"Guys, will you cool your jokes for a minute so the poor guy doesn't have a heart attack or something." Cal said in exasperation.
"Hi Dusty, don't let those three bother you, we're all constantly joking. I'm Junior, the one who greeted you with we don't bite is Lightning. Mister won't bite much is Bobby and mister concerned over there is Cal." Pointing to Cal with his thumb.
Well that confirmed his suspicion that they all knew each other.
"It's Cal's first time here, so he thinks we should all be on best behaviour. I give it an hour before he breaks and joins in the fun." Broke in Lightning explaining Cal's first remark.
"Oh, so it's your first time here as well." Dusty said addressing Cal, grasping on that connection.
"Yep, but my uncle has told me about them before. He of course has been to several in the past."
"Only Junior and I have been here before so it's Bobby's first time too." Lightning added.
"When was that?" Asked Dusty.
"When the last one happened, it was right after my rookie year. I was invited then and I was the only one surprised by it." Lightning explained.
"I was at that one as well, Lightning was more than a bit bewildered by it." Included Junior.
"I honestly didn't think they would invite me; I had just finished my rookie year and they generally invited the ones who had been around longer." Lightning said with a shrug.
"Really Lightning, by the end of your rookie year, you were already a big name with the tie and then your disappearance and helping Uncle Strip, you were pretty well a shoo in. I think Uncle Strip even told me that Tex used it as a time to see if you had changed your mind and would like to race for him yet." Cal said almost huffily.
"He did, and that was the second time I turned him down but the first that the media was aware of." Lightning replied.
"Wait, how many times have you refused the Dinoco sponsorship?" Asked Dusty.
"Oh, I don't know, I stopped counting somewhere between 5-10." Lightning said in a off handed way.
"Ah, Tex has asked you in front of me at the very least 10 times, I think he asks you at least every other race." Cal said.
"It's only about every 3-5 races that Tex asks, Cal." Bobby corrected.
"Thanks Bobby really needed to know that." Cal said rolling his eyes.
"I'm staying out of this you hooligans." Junior stated crossing his arms.
"Oh, come on Junior we know you have a chart somewhere. You can't say we're hooligans when you often participate in the shenanigans. That was Doc's thing to call us hooligans." Lightning said.
"Didn't he also tell you the reasons why you were invited the first time as well?" Retorted Junior.
"He might have exasperatedly told me the reasons." Lightning sheepishly
"Lightning is our resident drama queen, don't let him tell you other wise." Stage whispered Cal.
"I heard that Cal."
"Good, you were supposed to."
"Are you guys always like this?" Questioned Dusty.
"Yes" answered Cal, Bobby and Lightning at the same time before going back to their bantering.
"No, sometimes they are worse. This is them on better behavior actually. That is if they don't start playing pranks on each other by the end of the night." Junior corrected.
"Do you keep them in check?" Dusty asked.
"I wish, plus like they mentioned I do often participate in their shenanigans. No, I'm too much a part of the group to keep them reined in as much as some would like. The only ones able to pull them in are Sally, Lightning's girlfriend, my or Bobby's crew chief, or Strip, Cal's uncle. Doc was the best at reining them in."
"What happened to him?"
"He passed away before the Allinol scandal, it hit Lightning hard, his whole town really. Doc was a pillar of their community, Lightning's crew chief and a racing legend. He was the driver of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet." Junior answered.
"Oh yeah, I've heard about him."
"Who have you heard about?" Asked Lightning.
"Your crew chief." Dusty replied.
"I would hope so, he was one of the best racers of his time. A racing great." Lightning proudly stated.
"Don't mind him he goes on and on about how Doc was one of the best racers and such any time the topic is brought up. Nice tie by the way." Bobby commented.
"Th-thanks?" Dusty turned bright red.
"The colours are based off your plane, aren't they?" Asked Cal.
"Ah, yeah. How-"
"How do I know? All of us watched your first Wings Around the Globe rally." Cal finished Dusty's question.
"We do keep up at least a bit with the other kinds of racing." Bobby added.
"I thought it would be interesting to watch because I had heard you were from some small town that was hardly a blip on a map. It reminded me of Radiator Springs." Lightning shrugged.
"You can't tell us that you don't follow other kinds of racing, almost all racers follow the various kinds of racing in some capacity. It's one of the reasons the sponsors and heads set this up. So, we can converse with each other and get a better feel for what is happening in the different racing worlds." Junior explained.
"Oh, and don't worry about the colour of your tie. It's almost a requirement to wear one that relates to your racing. Obviously, Cal's tie is Dinoco blue, Junior's is the same colour as his car, Lightning's is Rust-eze red and mine is my sponsor's colours. They went subtle thankfully, purple with thin orange and white pinstripes." Bobby said lifting his tie for inspection.
"My friend convinced me to wear this one. He had bought a whole bunch of Dusty Crophopper merchandise to raise money so he and his partner could meet me on one of the legs of my first Wings Around the Globe rally. He kept one tie for me. It has planes on it that look like my plane on it." Dusty said holding up his orange, blue and white striped tie, pointing to the little planes dotting the white stripes.
"At least you don't have your plane as a stuffy with a face." Lightning stated with a grimace.
"You're still on about that?" Asked Bobby as his jaw dropped.
"What? It's weird and Sally bought one!" Lightning exclaimed.
"See drama queen." Pointed out Cal.
"I'm confused, but Chug did get stuffed planes with a face. They're cute I guess; Dottie and Dipper sure seem to like them."
"Gah, it's contagious!" Lightning said throwing his hands in the air.
"Lightning thinks it's more than a bit weird that there are stuffed cars out there that are supposed to be him. It's not like he's the only one, you apparently have some, I have some, and I know that Strip has some. It's just he's the only one who freaks out about it." Junior explained to the pilot.
"Oh."
"So, who are Chug, Dottie and Dipper?" Cal asked to change the topic.
"They're my best friends, at least Chug and Dottie are. Dipper is a friend sort of, she's, ah, complicated."
"How complicated?" Bobby asked deadpan.
"When I first met her she completely fangirled on me and went creepy stocker. She watched me while I was sleeping and whispered she liked watching me sleep in my ear."
"Was she just a fan that met you somewhere?" Lightning asked concerned.
"No, she was a co-worker where I was taking some training." The group winced in unison. "She's not that bad, she just doesn't recognize personal boundaries. Once you get to know her, she makes a good friend."
"Well, it does take all kinds of people to make the world go around. Plus, we all know Cal can fanboy." Lightning said lightly.
"Hey, I over heard Uncle Strip say that you sure perked up when he told you, you had more talent than most but deflated when he called you stupid." Retaliated Cal with a small smirk.
"When did you hear that?"
"When Uncle Strip was talking with Aunt Lynda and Tex the one time, when he was healing from his crash."
"And you remembered that since then?"
"I might have written it down." Cal sheepishly answered.
"Why?"
"Because I thought it was neat that someone like you would still admire my uncle."
"Are you sure this is normal?" Dusty asked.
"Yep, those two will calm down soon." Junior replied.
"Especially once they get food, they can switch in an instant." Said Bobby.
"You should come to Radiator Springs sometime Dusty, I'll show you around and we can all make a weekend of it." Invited Lighting, switching on a dime.
"Or you know, just like that." Bobby snickered.
o0o0o
In the end, the event wasn't so bad even if he ended up being placed at a table with people he didn't know. He certainly felt like he knew them now. He was wrong about not having anything to talk about, and after they ate he even had the chance to introduced them to his racing friends. It ended up being a great evening and he walked away with some new friends.
So, for those of you who are wondering, yes, this is heavily influenced by NurfHurdur's Life's Highway and that is why it is humanized. While I really liked the image of a large room filled with cars, planes and boats all mingling together the overall idea lends itself better as humanized for what it ended up being. This was thought up because I was wondering how Dusty met our racers, so while it doesn't match up with NurfHurder's timeline since Doc's not dead when Dusty visits Radiator Springs, that is what inspired it.