Florida 500

The Florida International Super Speedway, where the Florida 500 is held.

The Florida 500 is a Piston Cup event in Cars 3. With the goal of defeating Jackson Storm and other rookies in the race, Lightning McQueen receives assistance from racing instructor Cruz Ramirez during his training for the event. Cruz took Lightning's place halfway through the race, because Lightning decided he could not win it alone.

History

Jackson takes the lead for most of the race, while Lightning McQueen steadily passes other cars. When he overhears Sterling tell Cruz to leave, that makes Lightning have an idea. Lightning knew he could not win alone, so after a wreck on the track caused by Cam Spinner, he had Ramone paint the Rust-eze and number 95 on Cruz to follow race regulations.

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Cruz as a Rust-eze racer.

Storm initially takes Cruz as a joke and therefore pays no attention to her. When the green flag drops, Cruz initially struggles, but eventually starts making up ground. As the race progresses, Cruz starts outperforming the other cars. When there are just ten laps left, Cruz moves into the top ten. Jackson's crew chief warns him about this, but he does not care. When Cruz moves into fourth position, Storm starts to take notice of her. When she moves into third position, Storm starts becoming scared of her, so he purposely slows down to catch up to Cruz, allowing Daniel Swervez to take the lead. Storm tells her that she can play dress up all she wants, but that she will never be a racer before retaking the lead. While in shock, Cruz moves back to fifth position after Flip Dover and Chase Racelott pass her. Cruz tells McQueen that Storm is in her head, but McQueen tells her that she got in Storm's head because he would not have done that if she did not scare him, and that she really was a racer. During the final lap of the race, Ramirez is right in Storm's tail and Storm tries to prevent her from passing by pushing her up against the wall. Unfortunately for Storm, Cruz does a flip over him and crosses the finish line in first place. After winning, Cruz is congratulated by Daniel Swervez, Chase Racelott, Ryan "Inside" Laney, and Bubba Wheelhouse.

Cruz and McQueen on the winners table.

Following the race, it is decided by race officials that both Cruz and McQueen are winners, as McQueen started the race while Cruz finished it with the same racing number.

Starting Positions

1. 20: Jackson Storm
2. 19: Daniel Swervez
3. 68: H.J. Hollis
4. 21: Ryan Laney
5. 33: Ed Truncan
6. 4: J.D Mcpillar
7. 11: Chris Roamin
8. 36: Rich Mixon
9. 24: Chase Racelott
10. 93: Nick Shift
11. 80: Dan Carcia
12. 73: Barry DePedal
13. 52: George New-Win
14. 76: Will Rusch
15. 82: Conrad Camber
16. 31: Cam Spinner
17. 70: Richie Gunzit
18. 6: Bubba Wheelhouse Jr
19. 00: Flip Dover
20. 28: Tim Treadless
21. 34: Steve "Slick" LaPage
22. 121: Noah Gocek
23. 5: Eric Braker
24. 64: Barry Depedal
25. 92: Sheldon Shifter
26. 54: Herb Curbler
27. 90: Paul Conrev
28. 48: Aaron Clocker
29. 84: J.P. Drive
30. 39: Michael Rotor
31. 123: Jonas Carvers
32. 117: Spikey Fillups
33. 15: Harvey Rodcap
34. 67: Jim Reverick
35. 95: Lightning McQueen

Finishing Positions

Pos.	No.	Car	Sponsor	Finish
1	95	Lightning McQueen/Cruz Ramirez	Rust-eze	Finished
2	20	Jackson Storm	IGNTR	Finished
3	19	Daniel Swervez	Octane Gain	Finished
4	68	H.J. Hollis	N2O Cola	Finished
5	21	Ryan Laney	Blinkr	Finished
6	33	Ed Truncan	Mood Springs	Finished
7	4	J.D Mcpillar	Tow Cap	Finished
8	11	Chris Roamin	Combustr	Finished
9	36	Rich Mixon	Tank Coat	Finished
10	24	Chase Racelott	Vitoline	Finished
11	93	Nick Shift	Spare Mint	Finished
12	80	Dan Carcia	Gask-its	Finished
13	73	M Fast Fong	Rev-N-Go	Finished
14	76	Will Rusch	Vinyl Toupee	Finished
15	121	Noah Gocek	Clutch Aid	Finished
16	92	Sheldon Shifter	Sputter Stop	Finished
17	70	Richie Gunzit	Gasprin	Finished
18	6	Bubba Wheelhouse Jr	Transberry Juice	Finished
19	5	Eric Braker	Syner G	Finished
20	54	Herb Curbler	Faux Wheel Drive	Finished
21	48	Aaron Clocker	Re-Volting	Finished
22	90	Paul Conrev	Bumper Save	Finished
23	39	Michael Rotor	View Zeen	Finished
24	64	Barry Depedal	RPM	Finished
25	82	Conrad Camber	Shiny Wax	Finished
26	117	Spikey Fillups	Tank Coat	Finished
27	00	Sheldon Shifter	Sputter Stop	Finished
28	15	M Fast Fong	Rev-N-Go	Finished
29	67	Will Rusch	Vinyl Toupee	Finished
30	123	Jonas Carvers	No Stall	Finished
31	84	J.P. Drive	Apple, Inc.	DNF
32	34	Steve LaPage	Trunk Fresh	DNF
33	28	Tim Treadless	Nitroade	DNF
34	52	George New-Win	Leak Less	DNF
35	31	Cam Spinner	Triple Dent	DNF

Trivia

• Although Darrell Cartrip says that there are forty-three cars competing, there are only thirty-four Next-Generation racers and one veteran racer (Lightning McQueen) for a total of thirty-five cars.
• Rich Mixon, Michael Rotor, Conrad Camber, Paul Conrev, Sheldon Shifter, Spikey Fillups, Noah Gocek, George New-Win, Will Rusch, M Fast Fong, and Cruz Ramirez made their debut in this race/season.
• Tim Treadless, Cam Spinner, Steve LaPage, J.P. Drive, and George New-Win did not finish the race due to having been badly damaged in the crash. 
• Michael Rotor gets replaced by a miscolored Ryan "Inside" Laney in some scenes.
• Although J.P. Drive was badly damaged and was unable to continue after the crash, he was not seen damaged after the crash when Cruz Ramirez was going into the pits.
  • The same thing happened to Steve LaPage. He was not seen damaged after the crash when some of the next gens were coming by while Cruz Ramirez was racing.
• Before the race started, the next gens got modified or switched into random positions.
• The Florida 500 is possibly based on the Daytona 500, as both races are at the start of the seasons in the Piston Cup and NASCAR.