[CARS 3 SPOILERS IN THIS CHAPTER] [CARS 3 SPOILERS IN THIS CHAPTER]
Sorry I've been gone for so long, I've been rather sick with the stomach flu and other sicknesses. I've been very busy with summer school and stuff (no I did not fail) so it's been kinda hard to keep up and every time a new Cars 3 scene comes into view, I try to include it into the story. But anyway I've done loads of research on both NASCAR and Cars 3 so I should be able to make chapters a little more easily now. Swim is kinda getting in the way of this, but I'm trying to do my best to finish.
LivvyLeopard: Thank you, and maybe the will have a kid, maybe they won't you'll have to wait and see ;)
(Guest) Mr Brown: I haven't really thought about that idea, I'll take it into consideration. But I will definitely NOT stop this story after Cars 3 comes out, if anything I'll work on it more! And your drawing request is actually a really good idea, I might draw it when I get the chance.
(Guest #1) I might do something like that, but who knows a lot can happen in between the chapters
(Guest) CarsGeek24: Thanks for the birthday wishes and it's actually kinda funny I've always pictured Jackson as an only child. That one kid on the block who has everything and is talented so they don't have a care in the world. And blagh! I always get his name mixed up with his real life racer and voice actor. But thanks for that! I just got back from Cars 3 as well and I love Cal too!
(Guest) Sam Fraser: Believe it or not but that little red car the screams 'Go McQueen' is actually a girl! But honestly I don't know if/how I'm going to include her into the story. And for the crash, you'll just have to wait and find out what's going to happen!
"Ok here we go. Speed, I am speed. One winner, 42 losers...I eat losers for breakfast. Breakfast...maybe I should of had breakfast...no no no, focus. Speed I am speed." Lightning spoke to himself before being jump scared by Mater who managed to sneak his way into Lightning's trailer. After kicking Mater out, Lightning continued to hype himself up before leaving.
Finally, after a long busy break, the first race of the season was about to start at the Florida track. Lightning and the other racers for some odd reason did their qualifying races almost in secret. Man, guess the new racers are really trying their best not to be seen. Lightning wondered before he saw his friends. Lightning bonded more over the break with Cal and Bobby, you could say they even became rather close friends on and off the track. Lightning had known Cal and Bobby for about 4 years now but just now they started getting closer. The three of them were gathered in a small group preparing, well more of just talking and laughing, for the race that was to take place in an hour.
"So McQueen," Bobby began smirking. "Are you ready for me to kick your rear bumper today?" Bobby playfully punched Lightning in the side.
"Psh, in your dreams Bobbette." Lightning replied laughing. Bobby laughed as well before registering what Lightning had said to him.
"Haha….hey wait a minute!" Bobby shouted back. Cal rolled his eyes and started laughing as well. "Well at least I wasn't the one who got their tires inflated by Guido during an interview!" Bobby continued now looking over at Cal.
"Ladies, ladies, you're both ugly and you're both gonna eat my rubber so can we just settle are differences and accept that I'm the better one? And we can all agree that Lightning looked one hundred percent better with whipped cream all over him." Cal pretended to be stuck up before getting the equivalent of a noogie by Lightning and Bobby. However they didn't notice another car staring at them from a distance behind a black trailer. He was black all over with blue decals in the shape of an 'S' on his side that resembled a hurricane. He looked at them almost in pity as he stayed behind his trailer.
What're these old guys doing? Jackson thought to himself before tapping on his trailer driver's side. "Come on Gale, let's go get ready for the race…..I don't know how long I can stand these old guys." Jackson slightly annoyed said to Gale. Jackson rolled away from her heading towards his crew chief with Gale close behind him.
Meanwhile Lightning, Cal, and Bobby heard the soft squeak of a trailer leaving. They looked up to see a sleek black trailer roll away from its position.
"Who's that? And who's trailer is that?" Cal asked after the trailer left out of view.
"I think that's Jackson's trailer, after all he is one of the only black cars in the Piston Cup." Lightning responded.
"And Gale is his driver, I've seen her once or twice around here and there. I don't think they like to be seen." Bobby spoke as he inched forward to his other friends.
"Wait a second….Gale is a girl!" Cal almost shouted in shock. "I thought Gale was a boy! Like who names their daughter Gale!" Bobby gave a smug look at Lightning and saw an opportunity.
"Hey, if that's what Gale's parents wanted to name her, then let them. After all it isn't that weird of a name, isn't it Lightning?" Bobby smirked obviously making fun of Lightning's name.
"Uh, heh, well Lightning isn't my birth name ya know. It would be kinda dumb to name a car after a weather phenomenon." Lightning rubbed his tire back and fourth in the pavement. Bobby and Cal gave a confused look at Lightning.
"What was your name? Come on it can't be that bad?" Cal nudged Lightning trying to get him to speak.
"Well, uh, you see...mynamewasmonty." Lightning spoke quickly.
"Wait what?" Bobby asked trying to stifle a laugh.
"Ugh, my name was Monty ok? Can you see why I changed it now?!" Lightning almost shamefully said.
"Pffft! You're name was Monty! That's pretty ridiculous!" Cal lost all signs of maturity and howled with laughter. Just then a loud bell sounded. It shook the ground before finally cutting off.
"Welp, sounds like we gotta go to our pit crews. See ya later Cal! Bye Monty!" Bobby smirked at Lightning before he and Cal sped off to pit lane. Lightning shook his hood and smiled as he drove to his pit crew. As he drove through pit lane, he could see all the new racer's pit crew. They were all so...dull. Lightning felt slightly uncomfortable as sudden whispers flew around the pits. He rolled up to his crew and saw that the teams next to him were also mumbling and whispering.
"Hey guys, do you know what's going on? Everywhere I look, everyone's all in whispers. It's kinda strange." Lightning asked while looking around him. Guido and Luigi quickly rolled up to him, talking back in forth in Italian.
"You see, uh, everyone's a saying you are-a getting to old to a race now. They say you're-a to slow compared to Jackson and the a other racers." Luigi quickly rambled. Lightning scoffed and rolled his eyes before laughing.
"Eh who cares what other cars say! I'm sure every thing's going to be all right." Lightning smiled at Luigi before driving away. Everything looked so different compared to last year. New teams, the track had been redone, several new RSN shows had been produced, sometimes it baffled Lightning on how they managed to get so much done in a short amount of time.
Several minutes later, the racers were in their poll positions loosening their tires by weaving back and fourth on the track. The rookies always start in the back of the pack but for some reason only Jackson was racing in this event. Jackson was apparently an 'experiment' to the racing industry. He was to race and if he did well enough, then the rest of the so called 'Next Gen Racers' would be able to race as well. Even now, Lightning, Cal, and Bobby still hadn't seen Jackson. The green flag waved high in the air as the racers quickly sped up.
"Ok guys, let's see what you've got!" Lightning called out to Cal and Bobby who were in front of the pack. The race went surprisingly fast to the group of friends. There was almost no entertainment, hardly any crashes, no real memorable moments. But not that any of that was bad, it's not exactly a good thing if someone crashes.
"And it looks like Strom is racing in front of the pack at last second!" Darrel commentated causing the other racers to look back at each other.
"We've got this in the bag!" Bobby yelled to his right at Lightning and Cal. The three of them smirked at each other as they entered the last lap preparing to go into an all out sprint to the finish. Suddenly on the last stretch, out of nowhere a black blur sped by and crossed the finish line. Lightning, Cal, and Bobby were dumbstruck.
"And it's Jackson Storm for the win!" Darrel howled. The black racer was out of sight again and rolled into victory lane not even stopping to do a victory lap or donut. He seemed to be in a rush to get onto the podium.
The trio rolled up to the stage behind all the paparazzi and stared at the sleek black car on the big screen.
"Hey Bobby, who's that?" Lightning asked, half of him already knowing the answer.
"That's uh...Jackson Storm." Bobby replied before Cal spoke in as well.
"Yea, he's one of the new rookies." Cal rolled up to the rest of the group.
"Huh. I'm gonna go talk to him..." Lightning trailed off as he drove away. He saw Jackson rolling off the ramp, thanking the compliments he was getting. He seemed so chill about his winning, it made Lightning shiver slightly as he drove up next to him. He decided to compliment Jackson as well, after all he did just win the race.
"Hey!" Lightning spoke while driving up to Jackson's left side. "Jackson Storm right? Great race today." Lightning finished with a small smile.
"Wow, thank you Mr. McQueen. You have no idea what a pleasure it's been for me to finally beat you." Jackson coolly manner, brushing off whatever he had said.
"Ah, thanks...wait," Lightning wasn't sure exactly what he had just said. He chuckled awkwardly before continuing. "Hold on, did you say meet or beat?" Lightning tried to keep his cheerful attitude up even though this so called Jackson Storm was really getting starting to bother him. Jackson's soft smile mixed with a smirk, slowly lowered into a frown before flatly saying.
"I think you heard me." Lightning's obviously fake smile lowered slightly as he looked at Jackson almost in confusion.
"What?" Was all Lightning could manage to get out of his mouth before meeting Jackson's annoyed eyes. It felt like an eternity of silence before the yelling of the press was heard roaring over. They kept on repeating something about pictures or the races before Jackson quickly sped ahead putting on his cocky smile once again.
"Yea yea, come on! Let's get a picture!" Jackson continued acting as if nothing had happened. "You know what? Get a ton of pictures because Champ here," Jackson reversed back to Lightning's side, "has been a role model of mine for years now. And I mean, a LOT of years, right?" Jackson spoke enthusiastically while bumping Lightning's fender. "I love this guy!" Jackson left as suddenly as he arrived to his trailer. Lightning just stood in almost shock as Jackson drove away to his music blasting trailer. Jackson backed up into his trailer while speaking, "I think I touched a nerve." Jackson turned up the volume to his music onto full blast before shutting his trailer door.
Lightning slowly turned around before heading back to his own trailer. That was definitely…..a different first impression. Lightning thought to himself as he went to pack up to go home.
Two days later, Lightning flicked through the channels on the TV at the Cozy Cone. The dark night of the outside could hardly be seen with the brightness of the TV. Nothing seemed to be on, it was all the late night TV shows that he found boring, until the RSN channel stopped him in his tracks. He couldn't believe the name he saw flashing across the screen 'Chick's Picks with Chick Hicks" Lightning's eyes grew wide. What, is this where he's been?
"Good evening everyone!" Chick's drastically aged voiced boomed through the speakers. "I'm your host, and forever Piston Cup champion, Chick Hicks and tonight do we have a lot to cover." Lightning stared in awe at Chick next to his Piston Cup that he 'won'. "Just a couple of days ago, rookie sensation knocked probably a few brain cells out of the now VERY slow Lightning McQueen. Even though I personally could have driven better myself, but enough about me, let's find out more about these Next Gens." Sally rolled up and sat next to Lightning, positioning herself so that she could also see the TV.
"Hey Stickers, whatcha watching" Sally softly said while Lightning pointed at the TV which showed Chick blabbering about Jackson's win.
"Natalie," Chick started, "Can you tell us more about these Next Gens?" The screen then cut to Natalie in front of a very large screen.
"Why yes I can Mr. Hicks. You see, the Next Generation racers are the top of the line athletes and it will be only a matter of time before the Next Gens take over the sport. They have the ability to keep in their racing lines more efficiently and effectively than the stock cars. Wind resistance, pressure points, down force, weight distribution, tire PSI, aerodynamics, these features and much more are what make these Next Gen racers unstoppable. In fact, Jackson Storm's chance of winning this season is a staggering 95.2%. The racing world is changing." Natalie finished before it cut back to Chick.
"And there you have it folks, the Next Gens! This was Chick's Picks with your host and forever Piston Cup champion, Chick Hicks. Goodnight everybody!" Lightning turned off the TV and stared blankly at the black screen recollecting his thoughts. I knew the rookies were gonna be a challenge but no one was told about this! A couple moments later Sally looked over and tapped his tire.
"Hey Light, you ok? You seem a little….motionless." Sally's eye arched as Lightning slowly turned to face her. He didn't know how much time had past while he thought. To be in all honesty, Lightning didn't know what he was even thinking about. He looked up at her and gave the smallest laugh.
"Heh, I guess I'm just trying to soak up all this new information. There hasn't been this big of a change since 2006! Man, I wonder if this is how The King or Chick felt." Sally gave a warm smile back at Lightning that for some reason put him more at ease.
"I know what you mean, and who knows? Maybe they did feel the same way, sometime you could ask them, well more likely The King, I don't think Chick exactly likes you still." The couple chuckled before Sally continued. "Well I don't know about you but I'm going to go to bed. Need to get that beauty rest." Lightning laughed as she kissed his cheek before driving further from Lightning.
"Yea, I think you desperately need some beauty too!" Lightning smirked before laughing again. Sally rolled her eyes and chuckled before driving out of the office.
"G'night." Sally called out as she drove out. Lightning smiled to himself before turning the TV back on. Oh boy…..this year is gonna sure be different. He thought quietly for himself for who knows how long until he got tired of sitting around and decided to go to bed as well.
So I just got from Cars 3 last night (June 16) so half of this is me before Cars 3 and half of it is after. Anyway from this point on ALL CHAPTERS WILL CONTAIN SOME FORM OF CARS 3 SPOILER. And I just got a sudden burst of motivation and I felt that the beginning of the movie was rather rushed so I'm spending way more time on it, and I will keep it my own while adding accurate/cannon things into it. Welp, that's all! Thanks for reading!