After festivities were done and most of the cars now starting to leave the raceway, everyone was packing up all their gear and heading out to get back to their bases. Forklifts were getting their gear ready to go, whilst racers were backing into their trailers to head on home, whilst Braedey and Lightning were rolling along to their trailer.
"'First one to California gets Dinoco all to himself'." Lightning mimicked Chick's voice, as he and Braedey were both now making their way over to their trailer to get on the road to California and fast. "Ohh, we'll see who gets there first, Chick." McQueen then noticed that the spot where he and Braedey's trailer should be was empty. Their trailer wasn't there.
"Huh?" Braedey looked at the empty space where his and Lightning's trailer should be. "Where's our trailer?"
Just then, Mack pulled up with a hiss of his brakes, his low-beam headlights on at the moment, and looking to the two racers he transports.
Mack is a 1980s-era Mack Super-Liner semi cab, with a compatible trailer. His license plate is RUSTEZ3. Mack's cab is painted red, and has a grey grille with his name on it. He has chrome rims, and in addition, the wind deflector on Mack's roof actually resembles that of a trucker's cap.
"Hey, kids! Congrats on the tie." Mack congratulated the two racers.
"Thanks a lot, big guy." Braedey thanked back to him as he and Lightning rolled up.
"I don't want to talk about it. Come on, let's go, Mack. Saddle up." Lightning told his driver. "What'd you do with our trailer?" He demanded.
"I parked it over at your sponsor's tent." Mack said as he reversed, then gestured to the trailer parked at a tent with the Rust-Eze sign on it, his brakes hissing in the process.
The trailer he hauls around is red and grey, with a picture of both Lightning and Braedey, the Rust-eze logo, the number 95, and both Lightning and Braedey's names painted on each side.
"What?" McQueen asked in shock.
"Why did you park the trailer over there for, Mack?" Braedey asked in confusion.
"You gotta make your personal appearance." Mack reminded to Lightning.
Braedey now smirked, and he looked over to Lightning. Braedey had already done his personal appearance a few times before they reached Nashville, and now, it was Lightning's turn to do so.
Lightning's was go wide, like a deer's eyes in the headlights. "No. No! No, no, no, no!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" A commercial with Lightning on him announced. "Lightning McQueen here. And I useRust-Eze Medicated Bumper Ointment, new rear end formula!" He gestured to an image of the Rust-Eze canister next to him. "Nothing soothes rusty bumper like Rust-Eze." The image wiped across a rusty car's bumper, and in a flash, it revealed to be shiny new. "Wow! Look at that shine! Use Rust-eze and you too can look like me! Ka-chow!" With that, the commercial ended.
Inside of the Rust-Eze tent, there were a handful, or so, of rusty car rednecks inside, lead by the two happy and joking founders of Rust-Eze, Rusty and Dusty.
Rusty is a 1963 Dodge Dart that is painted in a dark shade of green, though he is very rusty, and the colours are a bit faded. His roof seems to be very dirty, and he has a grey bumper.
Dusty is a 1967 Dodge Al00 Van that is also painted in a dark shade of green, but his rust makes the colours appear faded, like Rusty's. Dusty has a stripe across the middle of his body, that reads "DODGE" under his windshield.
"I met this car from Swampscott." Rusty started. "He was so rusty he didn't even cast a shadow." He laughed his engine block out.
"You could see his dirty undercarriage." Dusty added, and the others laughed in the process also.
Lightning groaned, as Braedey drove through the tent, passing the rusty cars with ease, greeting the two founders, and heading into the trailer. "I hate rusty cars. This is not good for my image." He grumbled.
"They did give you your big break." Mack reminded to him. "Besides, it's in your contract."
"Oh, will you stop, please?" Lightning groaned. "Just go get hooked up."
"Winter is a grand old time." Dusty spoke out.
"Of this, there are no 'ifs' or 'buts'." Rusty added.
As this was happening, Lightning had found a cheeky way of trying to get to his trailer. He was using one of the stand-ins of himself, and was creeping his way towards the front.
"But remember, all that salt and grime..." Dusty stated first.
"Can rust your bolts and freeze your.." Rusty was about to add something else, but as he looked to the back, the stand in fell over, and there was Lightning!
"Hey look! There he is!" Dusty announced, and all the rusty cars looked to him. "Our almost champ! Victory ran to your rear end in here, kid."
Lightning slowly made his way past the other cars, trying to not get any rust on his paint, all the while the cars were giving him compliments. "Lightning McQueen, you are wicked fast! That race was a pisser! You were booking McQueen!"
"Give me a little room, guys." Lightning asked nicely.
"You're my hero, Mr. McQueen." One very rusty car spoke to McQueen.
This car's name was Fred. Fred is a Stodgey Suaver ST, and has a license plate that simply reads "FRED". Fred's original livery is currently unknown, as he is completely covered in rust and he sometimes struggles to keep parts on.
"Yes, I know. Fred, Fred, thank you." Lightning thanked, and he continued to make his way to his trailer past the rusty cars.
"He knows my name. He knows my name!" Fred yelled out, then unexpectedly, his front bumper fell off!
"Looking good, Freddie!" Dusty called to Fred.
"Thanks to you Lightning, we had a banner year!" Rusty thanked Lightning, as he did a three-point-turn, so he could reverse into his trailer.
"We might clear enough to buy you some headlights." Dusty added.
"Are you saying he doesn't have headlights?" Rusty asked in confusion.
"That's what I'm telling ya. It's just stickers!" Dusty replied with a smile.
"Well, you know, racecars don't need headlights, because the track is alwayslit." Lightning told them, as if he were talking to two brick walls.
"Yeah, well, so is my brother, but he still needs headlights." Rusty said, and the other rusty cars laughed at the joke.
"Hahaha! Ha!! Hahaha!!" McQueen laughs sarcastically, but it sounded more like a force laughter.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Lightning McQueen!" Rusty and Dusty announced, as a spotlight as shone down on the red racecar.
"Free Bird!" A voice called out from outside.
"You know, the Rust-eze Medicated Bumper Ointment team ran a great race today. And remember, with a little Rust-eze..." Lightning whispered what he was about to say next. "And an insane amount of luck... you too can look like me. Ka-chow." With that, he began to reverse into his trailer, ready for the trip to California.
"Hey, kid." Rusty started.
"We love ya." Dusty added. "And we're looking forward to another great year. Just like this year."
Lightning posed and smiled, as the trailer door closed, revealing the same image he just pulled. Once the door closed though, he dropped his smile, and he then scowled. "Not on your life." He said to himself.
Finally, it was time for them to go. Mack hitched up to the trailer, and began to pull away with his two racers and friends onboard the trailer, and began to head towards the trucker's exit of the interior of the racetrack.
"Don't drive like my brother!" Rusty called.
"Oh Yeah, don't drive like my brother!! Dusty added in next.
"California, here we come!" Mack called to the two racers inside the trailers via inside phone.
"Dinoco, here we come!" McQueen corrected, as both he and Braedey settle in for their long ride to California.
About what could be roughly about a day of driving, Mack was about maybe in the desert region of the USA, going along the Interstate 40, the fastest route to California from Nashville. It was a long drive to get to California, but he had a job to do.
Inside of the trailer, Lightning was relaxing with a robotic massage and buffing. He felt very relaxed by this, and was enjoying himself. Braedey was on a 'rolling road', a device that measures horsepower, and can also double as a small treadmill for the wheels. He was seeing how good he can go, and see if he could beat McQueen's run on it: about 190MPH.
'My best is only 187.' Braedey thought to himself, his engine revving. Fortunately, the section of the trailer he was in was soundproof, so any sound won't echo out into the trailer, and disturb Mack or Lightning. 'I need just a little bit more speed.' But, before he could, the telephone rang, and he stopped what he's doing.
McQueen answers it, and a small section of the trailer wall moves over to him, which was the phone. "I needed this. Hello?" Lightning answered the phone call, as the massage machine turns off.
"Is this Lightning and 'Bolt' McQueen, the world's fastest racing machines?" A male voice asked excited.
"Is this Harv, the world's greatest agent?" Lightning asked back.
"Hey, Harv." Braedey greeted. He want too sure about Harv. He and Lightning had never officially met before, so he was 'on-the-fence' about it. "What's going on?"
"And it is such a honour to be your agent, and it almost hurts to take 10% of your winnings and merchandising. And ancillary rights in perpetuity." Harv muttered on before getting onto the big news. "Anyway, what a race! Hot champs!" Lighting flicked his way through the channels on the TV, and he saw all the news were talking about the four-way tie. "I didn't see it, but I heard you both were great."
"Thanks, Harv." Lightning thanked, then he rolls his eyes and turne off the plasma screen in the trailer.
"Listen, they're giving you both 20 tickets for the tiebreaker thing in Cali." Harv informed them. "I'll pass 'em on to your friends. You shoot me the names. You let Harv rock it for you. All right, baby?"
"Right. Friends." Lightning then went quiet, trying to think of someone. "Yes, there's a..." He didn't answer at first.
"OK, I get it, Mr. Popular. So many friends you can't even narrow it down." Harv said sarcastically at first. "Hey, when you get to town, you better make time for your best friend! You gotta break bread with your mishpoacheh here!"
"Yeah, yeah, that'd be great!" Lightning agreed. "We should totally..."
"Ok, I gotta jump, kid. Let me know how it goes. I'm out." Harv ended the call, and the dial tone echoed in the trailer, whilst the phone went back into its hole.
Braedey could tell Lightning was not feeling himself right now. But, before he could ask him what's wrong, a melodic horn could be heard outside the truck. They look to their right, and they could see a minivan with a mattress on its roof, and it was getting ahead of them!!!
"What? A minivan?" Lightning walked in disbelief.
Mack wasn't feeling too good. He looked very tired, and was in desperate need for a rest. He flipped on his right blinker, heading off to the Top Down Truckstop, the last truckstop for the next 500 miles or so. He really needed some sleep, especially after driving for so many hours.
"Hey, Mack. You feeling okay up there?" Braedey asked on his communicator.
"Oh, come on Mack, you're in the slow lane. This is Lightning McQueen and Braedey 'Bolt McQueen' Martin you're hauling here." Lightning called.
"Just stopping off for a quick breather, kid." Mack responded, preparing to turn off the interstate. "Old Mack needs a rest."
"Absolutely not." Lightning responded. "We're driving straight to all night till we get to California. We agreed to it!"
Mack looked like he were staring at someone with two heads or so, as he got back on the interstate. "All night?!" He asked. "May I remind you, federal DOT regs state..."
"Come on, I need to get there before Chick and hang with Dinoco." Lightning insisted.
Mack looked over to the sleep area for trucks, and could see sleeping trucks after sleeping trucks there. "Ahh, all those sleeping trucks. Hey kid, I don't know if I can make it." He contacted the two racers.
"Oh, sure you can, Mack." Lightning told him. "Look, it'l be easy. We'll stay up with you."
"All night?" Mack asked.
"All night long." Lightning and Braedey agreed.
But, after a few hours, it was dark, and both racecars were knocked out, fast asleep in their trailer. Mack struggles to stay awake, shaking himself about, all the while trying to keep his eyes wide open and fixed to the road ahead.
But, not too far behind the racecar transporter, a group of tuner cars was making their way down the road. They were the Delinquent Road Hazards.
The group consists of DJ, a blue and green neon lit tuned out van. His model is a Reko-Do/Spinner, whilst he sported sports tweeters, woofers and subwoofers, and a large illegal racing spoiler on his roof. The second member and leader is Boost. He is a Kyoku/jitsu car, with sports carbon fibre panels, his paint job making him look like a million dollars, his wheel rims compliment his sleek body style. The third member is Snot Rod, an orange dragster based on the 1968 Dodge Charger fitted with a supercharger, whilst his black stripes on his sides are most derived from the Challenger's. The last member of the group is Wingo, a Gashi/Wingo car, with sports headlights that blind other cars, swooping side and front panels that add extra resistance, and a ridiculously huge rear spoiler on his back.
The four reckless drivers travelled down the interstate, scaring other drivers in the process of doing so, then see a truck up ahead. They all start to pull up to the front of it, and notice Mack looking tired and worn out.
Boost looked to his music man. "Hey, yo, DJ."
"What up?" DJ asked.
"We got ourselves a nodder." Boost told the music car, and the two switch lanes with one another.
DJ laughed, then switched out his boombox music with slow melody music, causing Mack to fall for it.
"Pretty music..." Mack mumbled, then he fell asleep, whilst still driving down the highway at 70 miles an hour!
Boost then began to push Mack over to Wingo. "Yo, Wingo! Lane change, man." He called out.
Wingo caught Mack, then pushed him back. "Right back at ya! Hahaha." He laughed.
Boost then accelerated forward. "Oops! I missed." He mocked, as Mack was now at the edge of the bridge they were up on at the moment, and on the edge of the Interstate road.
"You going on vacation?" Snot Rod asked, and the rest of the crew laughed.
Inside the trailer, the rumbling from being on the side of the road was causing the interior to shake about, and it was making both Braedey and Lightning start to roll forward to the door. But then, there was worse to come. One of McQueen's bobble head figures falls off its ledge, then hits the button for the door, and the ramp door lowers down to the road, sparks flying off in the process. Lightning stopped on the ramp, oblivious of what was going on, and Braedey was just behind him, also oblivious and fast asleep of what was going on.
The Delinquent Road Hazards their laughing their heads off, as Mack was driving back into the middle of the road. But then, they noticed their partner Snot Rod was gonna sneeze.
Boost's eyes widened. "Oh no, Snot Rod..."
"He's gonna blow!" Wingo yelled, then he, Boost, and DJ immediately drove off in a hurry.
"Ahh… ahhh… ahhh… achoowww!!!" Snot Rod sneezed loudly, fire shooting out of his exhaust pipes, and he raced away, his throttle wide open, and causing Mack to wake up in a sudden flash!!
"Gesundheit!" Mack yelled out as he looks much better. "Hoho. One should never drive while drowsy." He shook his head, and continued down the road, heading off to California.
But, unbeknown to him, his sudden shake when he woke up had inadvertently shook the trailer in the process, and this caused both Braedey and Lightning McQueen to roll out of the trailer, the ramp closing up!!!
As both cars roll out onto the empty highway, cars were honking their horns at them, as they dodge the two. Braedey rolled off onto the median strip in the middle of the Interstate, coming to a stop as he does so, whilst McQueen was still in the middle of the highway. Braedey woke up slowly, his eyes adjusting, then he noticed something that made his eyes snap open: a semi-truck was gonna flatten Lightning!
"MCQUEEN! GET UP!" Braedey yelled out, his engine roaring out.
McQueen woke with a start, then saw the truck ahead of him, blaring his horn at him. With a scream, he got in gear, and dodged the truck. Next, he saw a car ahead, and dodged that, too. Then, he saw a wall of three trucks ahead, all of them blaring their horns, and McQueen spun out on the median.
Braedey rolled up to his partner. "You okay?" He asked.
Lightning nodded lightly, breathing heavily of what just happened, and looked to the Interstate, seeing all the other cars and trucks go by. "MACK!" He screamed, then with his engine roaring loud, he got back on the Interstate, dodging cars and trucks in the process, Braedey racing just behind him as they try and go after Mack.