Finally. At long last, it's finished. Enjoy.
"Hello Race Fans, and welcome to what has become, quite simply, the biggest event in the history of racing. A three way battle for the Piston Cup!" Bob said.
"There's a crowd of nearly 200,000 people here at the Los Angeles International Speedway. Tickets to this race are hotter than a black leather seat on a hot summer day!" Darrel said.
"The King, Nutty Squirrel and Cuddles 'Lightning' McQueen in a 200 lap, winner-takes-all, tiebreaker race." Bob said.
Darrell nodded and said, "You know I've been around the block a few times, but let me tell you somethin' buddy. I never thought I'd see anything like this. Woo! Man. This is exciting!"
"In fact," Bob continued, "the country has almost shut down to watch what many are calling "The race of the century"."
Once again, Cuddles was in his trailer giving himself a pep talk. "Speed... I. Am. Speed...One winner... Two losers... Speed... Speed... Speed..." And his mind began to wander back to Radiator Springs...
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, shaking Cuddles out of his fantasy.
"Yeah! I'm ready..." Cuddles said as he opened the door and drove his car out if the trailer. He drove over to the pits, where Lumpy was waiting. "Mack, thanks for being my pit crew today."
Lumpy smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, Kid. After all, Gas can is my middle name."
"It is?" Cuddles asked.
"No", Lumpy replied.
From seemingly out of nowhere, Nutty appeared and threw an arm over Cuddles' shoulder. "Where ya been, McQueen? I missed ya... Been kinda lonely... No one to hangout with... Oh, except the Dinoco folks... Oh, and the Twins... Ya know, the Twins that used to be your fans, but now they're my fans... Anyway, listen to what the Twins think..."
But Cuddles stopped listening. He let his mind wander back to Radiator Springs... Remembering hanging out with Prickly... But mostly, Giggles... Oh, how he missed her...
"Hey!" Nutty snapped, shaking him from his daydream, "Do you mind? I'm trying to tell you a story!"
Cuddles shook his head and said, "Just leave me alone, Nutty... I'm not in the mood."
"Well, fine" Nutty said indignantly, "I'll see you on the track..." And he walked back to his pit stall.
After the usual Pre-Race celebration, the call was given for them to start their engines. The three cars fired up and rolled out onto the track following the pace car... After four or five laps, the pace car pulled in, and the green flag waved.
"Reach up there and pull those belts tight, one more time! BOOGITY BOGGITY BOOGITY BOYS! LET'S GO RACIN'!" Darrel bellowed into his microphone.
The three driver's floored their accelerators, their engines roared and the cars took off.
...
About an hour later, Fifty of the two hundred laps had been finished. Cuddles was about to overtake Nutty, slowly creeping past... But Nutty saw this and swerved, cutting him off. Cuddles had to hit the brake to avoid crashing into him, which cost him a lot of momentum, and about a second and a half of space.
"OH!" Darrel yelled, "Nutty slammed the door on him! He lost so much momentum that now he's gotta chase him back down..."
Cuddles' mind flashed back to the drive with Giggles, following her up the mountain pass... When his mind came back to reality, he was headed straight toward the wall. He yanked the steering wheel hard to the left, veering away from the wall, but losing grip and spinning through the grass.
Nutty saw this in his mirror, laughed and said into his mic, "Just me and the old man, Fellas... McQueen just doesn't have it today."
As Cuddles pulled back out onto the track, Lumpy asked him, "Hey Kid, you alright?"
"I don't know, Mack" Cuddles replied. But before he could continue, he heard a familiar voice over the radio.
"I didn't come all this way to see you quit!"
Cuddles, who was passing The Pits looked over to his pit stall and saw his friends from Radiator Springs, with Sniffles sitting atop the pit box, wearing his old racing gear...
"Guys! You're here!" Cuddles exclaimed, "I can't believe this!"
"I knew you needed a Crew Chief" Sniffles replied, "But I didn't know it was this bad..."
"I thought you said you'd never come back" Cuddles said.
Sniffles replied, "Well, really didn't have a choice... Prickly didn't get to say goodbye..."
Prickly jumped up on the Pit Box, grabbed Sniffles' headset mic, and shouted into it, "GOODBYE!" He then jumped back to the ground and said, "Ok. I'm good."
On Cuddles' next lap, he pulled into the pits and stopped for gas.
"Alright" Sniffles said, "If you can drive as good as you can fix a road, you can win this race with your eyes shut. Now, get back out there!"
Cuddles floored the gas and tore back out onto the track.
"Hot Snot!" Sniffles said, "We are back in business!" He turned to Pop and Cub and said, "Pop, Cub... You're going up against real pit crews. You're gonna have to be fast."
"They will-a not know what-a bit them!" Pop replied.
Sniffles went back to his mic and said, "Kid, you can beat these guys. Find a groove that works for ya and get that lap back!"
In no time, Cuddles had passed Nutty and Splendid, and was back on the Lead Lap.
Meanwhile, back in the pits, one of Nutty's crew members yelled to Cub, "Hey Shrimpy, where did McQueen find you? Those round things are called "Tires"... And they go under the car!" And the whole crew started laughing.
Cub was reaching for a tire iron, but Pop stopped him. "You will have your chance, Cub. You will have your chance."
...
About an hour and a half later, Cuddles had caught back up to Splendid and Nutty. He was about to pass Nutty on the outside.
"Kid's trying to be a hero, huh?" Nutty said to himself, "Well what do ya think of this?" And he turned his wheel sharply, slamming into Cuddles' car and causing him to spin out. But a few seconds later, Cuddles was right along side him, except going backwards. "WHAT?!" Nutty asked in shock.
"Whoa! GIT-R-DONE!" Prickly bellowed, seeing the action on the track. He turned to Nutty's pit crew and said, "I taught him that!"
Cuddles spun his car back around and continued racing. Nutty was not going to have this. He floored it, pulled up alongside Cuddles, and slammed his car against him. The square bodywork managed to scrape against the sidewalk of Cuddles' tire and punctured it.
Cuddles started to slow down, the car starting to fishtail. "Doc! I'm flat! I'm flat!" He said into his mic.
"Can you get back to the pits?" Sniffles asked.
"Yeah... I think so" Cuddles replied as the yellow flag came out.
"Hey, we got a yellow" Sniffles said, "Bring it in... Don't tear it up, Kid."
As Cuddles made his way into the pits and the Pace Car pulled out onto the track, Lumpy said, "We gotta get him back out there fast! Or else we'll be a lap down and we'll NEVER win this race..."
Sniffles looked down at Cub and said, "Cub... It's time..."
Cub grabbed his air wrench and four tires, and waited by the pit wall.
"Hey Tiny!" Another of Nutty's crew hollered, "Ya gonna clean his windshield?!" Which brought forth more laughs.
Cub didn't say anything as Cuddles pulled into the pit box and came to a stop. Cub flung the stack of tires into the air and quickly changed the tires on the car, pulling one off, catching a fresh one, and bolting it on, until all four were changed and Cuddles sped out of the pit box just in time to beat the Pace Car. In total, it took him only four seconds.
Cub blew on the end of his air wrench and said, "Peet Stop." As the members of Nutty's crew stared in shock.
"That was the fastest stop I've ever seen!" Bob said.
"McQueen's still gotta beat that Pace Car out..." Darrel said.
Cuddles got to the end of Pit Lane and floored it, just barely slipping out ahead of the Pace Car.
"Yeah! He's back in the race!" Darrel said.
Cuddles got caught back up just as the pace car was pulling in and the green flag flew once more.
It wasn't long until they were entering the final lap.
"Alright Kid" Sniffles said, "Four turns left. Drive it in deep and hope it sticks. Go!" And Cuddles hit the gas as hard as he could.
Nutty saw Cuddles approaching in his mirror and tried to bump him, but Cuddles slowed down and went to the outside. Nutty swerved and tried to pin him against the outside wall, but Cuddles slowed again and Nutty bumped the wall himself. Cuddles easily passed him and pulled alongside Splendid. This angered Nutty who floored his accelerator and rammed into Cuddles' car, causing him to slide into the infield. Nutty's car also slammed in Splendid's, and they both started to slide about as they fought for control.
As Cuddles slid sideways through the grass, he remembered Sniffles' advice... "Turn right to go left"... And he turned the wheel to the right, drifting through the grass, allowing him to regain control, get back on the track, and slide right into first place as they entered the final straight away.
"McQueen saved it!" Darrel hollered.
"He's back on the track!" Bob exclaimed.
As Splendid and Nutty brought their cars back under control, Nutty realized he was running last.
"I am not finishing behind you again, Old Man!" Nutty yelled at the windshield as he floored the gas once more and rammed into Splendid's car, causing him to spin backwards into the infield, where his large spoiler caught the wind and lifted the car off the ground, then it slammed down and rolled several times before coming to rest on its wheels.
"This is it!" Cuddles thought, "I'm gonna win the Piston Cup!" But that was when he glanced at the Jumbotron in the infield and saw Splendid's wrecked car. His mind flashed to Sniffles' wreck, and he slammed on the brakes, grinding to a stop just feet short of the finish line.
Nutty flew past, screaming at the top of his lungs, "WOOOOOO! I WON, BABY! YEAH!"
Cuddles shifted into reverse, backed his car into the infield, came to a stop, and climbed out of his car. He took off his helmet as he walked to the aid of the older racer.
Splendid, who had somehow survived the crash, looked out the window of his car and saw the rookie approaching him. "What are you doin', Kid?"
"I think The King should finish his last race" Cuddles said as he helped Splendid climb out of his car, and they started walking toward the finish line Splendid leaning heavily on Cuddles, trying to keep his weight off of a broken leg.
"You just gave up the Piston Cup... You know that?" Splendid asked.
Cuddles shrugged and replied, "Eh, this grumpy old guy I know once told me something... 'It's just an empty cup'."
"Darrel, is walking across the Finish Line legal?" Bob asked.
"I never saw anything about it in the rule book" Darrel replied.
The crowd erupted in a thunderous applause as the two crossed the finish line.
Meanwhile, in Victory Lane, Nutty was climbing out of his car, cheering for himself while the crowd looked on in silence.
"Yeah, baby!" Nutty hollered, "Bring it out! Bring out the Piston Cup!"
A track official begrudgingly walked over, handed Nutty the trophy, then quickly walked away.
"How come the only one celebrating is me, huh?!" Nutty hollered to the silent crowd, "Where are the girls?! Bring on the confetti!" He then yelled in pain twice as he was shot with blasts from confetti cannons. "Easy with the confetti... C'mon, snap some pictures! I gotta go sign my deal with Dinoco!"
At the moment, the crowd started booing and throwing beer cans at him. Nutty grabbed his trophy off the ground and ran as the cans, some of them unopened, pelted him.
Meanwhile, Cuddles had helped Splendid to hobble back the the Dinoco tent where Splendid's wife and an ambulance were waiting for them.
After Cuddles had helped Splendid onto the stretcher, Splendid's wife hugged cuddles and said, "Thanks Lightning" and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"You're welcome" Cuddles replied before excusing himself and walking toward the Rust-Eze tent, where his crew was waiting for him.
"You made us proud!" Rusty called.
"Way ta go, buddy!" Prickly said.
"Congrats on the loss, me bucko!" Lumpy said.
Sniffles smiled and said, "you got a lotta stuff, Kid..."
"Thanks Doc" Cuddles said.
"Hey Lightning" a call came. Cuddles turned and saw it was Tex, the Dinoco longhorn steer. "Come over here and talk to me a minute." Cuddles walked over and Tex said, "Son, that was a hell of a thing you did out there... How would you like to be the new face of Dinoco?"
Cuddles was shocked. After a moment, he said, "But I didn't win..."
Tex smiled and said "There's a lot more to racing than just winning..."
Cuddles thought for a second, looking over at the Dinoco tent... The private helicopter... Everything he had ever wanted... He took a breath and said, "Thank you, Mr. Tex... But Rust-Eze gave me my big break... I think I'm gonna stick with them..."
Tex nodded and smiled. "I sure can respect that... But still, if there's ever anything I can do for ya, just let me know."
"Well, Thank you Tex" Cuddles said. He thought for a second and said, "Actually, there is one thing..."
...
"WOOOHOOOO!" Prickly screamed at the top of his lungs as the Dinoco helicopter carried him about Ornament Valley. As they passed over Radiator Springs, he screamed out the open door, "LOOK AT ME! I'M FLYING! I'M HAPPIER THAN A TORNADO IN A TRAILER PARK!"
Meanwhile, Pop and Cub were going over their inventory, when a Ferrari and two Maseratis pulled into the parking lot. The Ferrari's door opened and out climbed F1 legend, Michal Schumacher. "Hi. Lightning McQueen told me this was the best place in the world to get tires. How about hooking me and my friends up with three or four sets each?"
Pop was in a state of shock. He finally said, "M-Michal Schumacher... In my store... MICHAL SCHUMACHER!" He turned to Cub and said, "Punch me, Son! Punch me in the face! This is the most glorious day of my life!" And he fainted.
Michal turned to Cub and said, in fluent Italian, "I hope your father recovers. I hear you are the best." And Cub fainted.
Around this time, out at the Wheel Well Inn, Giggles was sitting on the hood of her Porsche, staring at the building, picturing what it once was... "Hey there" she heard a voice say. She looked and saw Cuddles, leaning against his race car that had a new paint job, making it look like a classic Corvette.
"Howdy Stranger" Giggles said, "Just passing through?"
"Actually, I thought I'd stop and stay a while" Cuddles said, "I hear this place is back on the map!"
"It is?" Giggles asked.
Cuddles smirked, "Yeah. A rumor is floating around that some hotshot Piston Cup driver is moving his big racing headquarters here..."
Giggles was surprised by what he said, but replied, "Well, there goes the town..."
Cuddles put an arm around Giggles and said, "Ya know, I really missed you..."
Giggles looked into Cuddles' eyes and said, "Well, I do create feelings in others that they themselves don't understand and blah blah blah blah blah..."
At that moment, the Dinoco helicopter came over the edge of the overlook and Prickly hollered over the rotor, "MCQUEEN AND SALLY, SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-S... Uh... I-N-T!"
"GREAT TIMING, PRICKLY!" Cuddles yelled back as the chopper flew back toward the valley. Cuddles turned to Giggles and said, "My best friend. What are ya gonna do?"
"So Patches..." Giggles said, climbing back into her car, "Last one to Petunia's buys?"
Cuddles climbed back into his car and said, "I don't know... Why don't we just take a drive?"
Giggles started her car and paused to think, then said, "Hmmm... Nah!" And she quickly drove away.
"Oh yeah!" Cuddles said, starting his car, then just before speeding away, he shouted, "Ka-Chow!"
The End.
Please leave a review. Thanks for reading. McQ out!
