More Than New Paint

More Than New Paint is the last deleted scene from Cars 3.

An alternate ending, where Rust-eze Racing team owner Sterling would have realized that Cruz Ramirez, McQueen’s trainer, was the one more fit for the track. In this scene, Sterling corners Lightning McQueen in a garage and tells him that it’s time to quit competing.

Sterling takes the pragmatic view that McQueen can become an even bigger brand after he stops racing. McQueen could make even more doing sponsorships than racing could ever offer, Sterling argues. McQueen wants to race, though. He has no interest in pitching tires.

At the end of the scene, Sterling strips off McQueen’s racing numbers and says that he’s no longer on the entry list. Ramirez will take McQueen’s place. Ramirez doesn't look happy at all, but McQueen says that she has to race. An announcement is made on the PA system that McQueen will not race, disappointing the crowd. At the last second, though, Tex Dinoco gives McQueen a position on the Dinoco team, and thus he is able to enter the race.

There are reportedly two versions of this scene. An earlier version would have revealed that Cruz Ramirez was actually smug and egotistical, seeking to learn McQueen's secrets and then usurp his position; this was rejected for making her a female version of Jackson Storm; whether or not McQueen was still hired by Dinoco and then won the race is unknown.