Lightning McQueen, now a seven-time Piston Cup racing legend, finds himself overshadowed by Jackson Storm, an arrogant rookie who belongs to a new generation of racers that use the latest technology to improve their racing performance. This causes McQueen's fellow veterans to either be retired or fired by their sponsors to make way for the new rookies. In the final race of the season, as he tries to catch up to Storm and the other leaders, McQueen suffers a violent, nearly fatal rollover crash, leaving him badly injured.
Four months later, while recovering in Radiator Springs, McQueen isolates himself from his friends, and spends his time watching footage of his late mentor, Doc Hudson. Confronted by his girlfriend, Sally Carrera, McQueen fears being forced into retirement as Doc was. Rusty and Dusty, the owners of McQueen's Rust-ESE racing team, send him to a new state-of-the-art racing center, much to his surprise. When he arrives, he learns that they have sold Rust-ESE to a new owner, Sterling, who assigns him to work with trainer Cruz Ramirez. McQueen eventually becomes impatient and annoyed with Cruz's methods, and attempts to use a high-tech racing simulator, only to cause severe damage to the equipment.
Convinced that McQueen is no longer capable of winning, Sterling is ready to take him off the racing circuit, and use him for product endorsements. McQueen offers a deal instead – if McQueen wins the first race of the upcoming season in Florida, he can decide when he retires; otherwise, he will retire immediately. Sterling accepts the deal, but assigns Cruz to work with him one-on-one. Instead of improving his own top speed, McQueen spends most of the day helping Cruz get used to racing on the sandy coastline outside of the training center. For inspiration, they travel to a dirt track on which Doc raced, but inadvertently end up competing in a demolition derby, which Cruz ultimately wins. Distraught at the apparent waste of training time, McQueen rages at Cruz and, in the process, accidentally breaks her trophy. Upset, Cruz reveals that she had wanted to race professionally just like McQueen all her life, but never started a race, because she felt outclassed. She resigns as McQueen's trainer, and starts back to the training center.
Learning that Storm has set a new lap record, McQueen calls his best friend, Mater, for advice. Mater suggests that he should track down Doc's mentor, Smokey. McQueen catches up to Cruz and convinces her to come along, and the two travel to Doc's hometown of Thomasville, Georgia, where they meet Smokey and several of Doc's old friends. Smokey reveals that even though Doc never raced again after his crash, he found a new happiness in training McQueen. After Lightning McQueen accepts that he will never be as fast as Storm, Smokey and his friends teach McQueen and Cruz how to drive smarter than Storm, with Cruz serving as a sparring partner for Lightning. However, during a final practice race, Cruz suddenly overtakes McQueen and he has a flashback to his crash, shaking his confidence.
At the race in Florida, McQueen is encouraged by Smokey and his friends, and gradually pushes up through the ranks. Still convinced McQueen cannot win, Sterling spots Cruz in the pits, and orders her to return to the racing cent re to begin prepping another racer for the following week's event, despite her wanting to stay and watch the race. McQueen overhears the exchange and remembers that Cruz had wanted to race because of him. He decides that Cruz is the answer to beating Storm. Entering the pits, McQueen has his pit crew outfit Cruz for racing, complete with his racing number, giving her the chance to finally race. Cruz uses McQueen's coaching and Smokey's advice to catch the leaders. Feeling threatened, Storm tries to intimidate Cruz, even pinning her to the wall during the final lap of the race. Instead, Cruz uses the wall to vault over Storm and take first place. She and McQueen are both credited with the victory since they both raced with the winning number. Cruz quits her job with Sterling and accepts an offer from Tex Dinoco for his Dinoco racing team.
Later, at an exhibition race in Radiator Springs, McQueen and Cruz reveal they have adopted Doc's old racing colors and number, respectively, to honor his memory. Tex Dinoco informs the group that he has bought Rust-ESE from Sterling, and McQueen decides to continue racing and train Cruz as well.
In a post-credits scene, Mater, at his junkyard, tries to answer a call from his phone. But, he knocks his reception antenna and his phone goes dead, much to his dismay. Give The Bad Reviews To Big Hero 6!
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