Lightning let his pit crew fit him with a new set of tires while the referees reviewed the instant replay. The rookie wasn't worried; he was positive he had the race in the bag.

"We're here in Victory Lane awaiting the race results," announced a reporter as she thrust a microphone into Lightning's grill. "Lightning, that was quite a risky move, not taking tires. Are you sorry you don't have a crew chief?"

Lightning gave her a cocky smile. "No, I'm not," he replied. "'Cause I'm a one-man show."

The reporter turned to the camera. "That was a very confident Lightning McQueen, coming to you live from Victory Lane."

"Yo, Chuck," Lightning called to one of his pit crew, who struggled to replace the blown tires. "Chuck! What are you doing? You're blocking the camera. Everyone wants to see the bolt," he said, referring to his lucky lightning bolt sticker. Suddenly, the jack flew out from underneath Lightning. Ka-thunk! He hit the ground hard.

"Whoa," he called as the pittie rolled off, "where are you going?"

"I quit, Mr. One-Man Show!" the pittie spatted.

"Oh, oh, okay, leave!" Lightning grinned at the camera. "Fine!" He snorted and added sarcastically, "How will I ever find anyone else who knows how to fill me up with gas? Adios, Chuck!"

"And my name's not Chuck!" the pittie hollered.

"Whatever," Lightning scoffed. Plenty of pit crews had quit on him before, but Lightning McQueen didn't care. He knew that when it came to racing, he was the only one who mattered.

"Hey, Lightning," Chick called as he rolled up to his rival. "Yo, Lightning. Seriously, that was some pretty darn nice racing out there … by me."

"Good one!" his pit crew said, cracking up at the lame joke. "Oh, yeah! Zinger!"

"Welcome to the Chick era, baby," Chick went on, his voice glossy with confidence. "The Piston Cup, it's mine, dude, it's mine. Hey, fellas, how do you think I'd look in Dinoco blue?"

"Blue's your color," one of the pitties piped up.

"In your dreams," Lightning replied, "thunder."

"Yeah, right, thunder," Chick said, turning to his pit crew. "What's he talking about, ‘thunder'?"

"Hey, you know," Lightning shot back, "because thunder always comes after lightning! Ka-pow!" Lightning flashed his shiny lightning bolt sticker at the crowd again, and the reporters went wild. They squeezed in around him, angling for a photo of the famous race car. "Lightning, over here!" "This way, Lightning!" "Hey, Lightning, we want to see the bolt!"

"Ka-ching!" Lightning said with each new pose for the cameras. "Ch-ch-chkow!"

Chick turned to his pit crew as the reporters elbowed him and his crew out of the way. "Who here knew about the thunder thing?" he demanded.

The King stood nearby, surrounded by his loyal Dinoco pit crew.

"You sure made Dinoco proud, King," said Dinoco's owner, Tex, to the longtime champion.

"My pleasure, Tex," The King replied.

The King's wife snuggled against his fender. "Whatever happens," she said gently, "you're a winner to me, you ol' daddy rabbit."

"Thanks, dear," the veteran said lovingly. "Wouldn't be nothin' without you." Then he rolled over to Lightning, who was surrounded by adoring fans. The King knew that Lightning was arrogant, but he respected Lightning's talent. He wanted to help the kid.

"Hey, buddy," The King said once the reporters had cleared away, "you're one gutsy racer. You got more talent in one lug nut than a lotta cars got in their whole body… "

"Really?" Lightning felt flush with pride. The King sure knows quality racing when he sees it, the rookie thought. "Oh, that, that's—"

"But you're stupid," The King finished.

Lightning blinked. "Excuse me?"

"This ain't a one-man deal, kid," The King said. "You need to wise up and get yourself a good crew chief and a good team. You ain't gonna win unless you got good folks behind you and you let them do their job like they should. It's like I tell the boys at the shop: it's about everybody comin' together and doin' the best they can."

"Uh, yeah, that is spectacular advice," Lightning said absently. He wasn't really paying attention to what The King was saying. He was too busy picturing himself as the next Dinoco car, his face on the cover of magazines, his signature on the side of the company helicopter, fame, fortune, and more Piston Cups than he could fit into his enormous mansion. And it was all starting right there, right then, with that win. "Thank you, Mr. The King."

Just then, music sounded over the PA system. "Ladies and gentlemen," Bob announced, "for the first time in Piston Cup history …"

"… a rookie has won the Piston Cup!" Lightning shouted. "Yes!" Revving his engine, he drove forward, bursting through the victory banner. He struck his finish line pose, mugging for the crowd.

"… we have a three-way tie!" Bob finished.

Confetti cannons burst, showering bits of paper through the air like snowflakes. The King and Chick drove forward to join Lightning.

"Oh, boy!" Chick said as he cracked up. "Hey, Lightning," he taunted, "that must be really embarrassing!"

Lightning scowled.

"Piston Cup officials have determined that a tiebreaker race between the three leaders will be held in California in one week," Bob announced. Lightning was shocked. He couldn't believe that he hadn't won!

"Hey, rookie," Chick whispered to Lightning, "first one to California gets Dinoco all to himself!"

Lightning slunk away, dejected. " ‘First one to California gets Dinoco all to himself,' " he muttered. "Oh, we'll see who gets there first, Chick."

趁着裁判们观看比赛回放的时候，麦坤让他的维修团队给他换上一套新轮胎。尽管是新手，麦坤一点也不担心。因为他坚信自己能在比赛中获胜。

“我们现在在冠军通道上等待比赛结果，”一位赛况解说员一边解说一边将话筒伸向麦坤，“麦坤，不换车胎真是太冒险了。你后悔开除了自己的维修队长吗？”

麦坤狂妄地笑着：“不，才不会呢。因为我一个人就足够了。”

解说员转向摄像机说：“闪电麦坤果然是自信心爆棚。这里是从冠军赛道为您带来的实况转播。”

“喂，查克，”麦坤朝一位正要为他更换轮胎的维修工喊道，“查克!你在做什么？你挡住摄像机了！大家都想看我的闪电标志！”他一边说一边指了指能为他带来好运的闪电标志。突然，那名维修人员从麦坤车底钻出来，喀蹦一声把工具狠狠地摔在地上。

“站住！”他冲着离去的维修工吼起来，“你要去哪儿？”

“我不干了，反正你一个人都能搞定！”维修工愤怒地说。

“好，走吧，你走吧！”麦坤朝着摄像机笑了笑。“很好！找一个能帮我加油的人很难吗？再见，查克！”他用鼻子哼了一声，挖苦道。

“我的名字不是查克！”维修工人咆哮道。

“随便吧！”麦坤嘲笑着说。尽管已经有很多维修员当着他的面辞职了，但麦坤并不在乎。他认为，在赛场上他才是唯一的重量级人物。

“喂，闪电！”路霸朝麦坤走来。“麦坤！说真的，刚才的冲刺可真精彩啊！不过……我说的是我！”

“真好笑！”他的维修队员听到这样蹩脚的笑话，忍不住大笑起来，“欧耶，真会讲话!”

“欢迎进入路霸时代。”路霸接着说，他的声音里透着自信。“活塞杯是我的，伙计，是我的！嘿，各位，我若涂上岱诺可蓝会不会很帅？”

“蓝色跟你很配。”一个机械工人唱着说。

“你做你的白日梦吧，雷！”麦坤回应道。

“喂，雷？”路霸转身问他的维修团队，“那家伙在说什么？雷？”

“切，这都不知道啊？因为雷声总是在闪电后面嘛！咔嚓！”麦坤又冲着大伙秀了一把自己炫酷的闪电标志，记者们激动得发狂。他们迅速赶来，将麦坤围得水泄不通。他们调整摄像机的机位，将其对准这辆有名的赛车。“麦坤，这边！”“麦坤，看这里!”“嘿，麦坤，让我们看看你的闪电标志。”

“咔嚓！”麦坤在摄像机前秀出各种新姿势。“咔嚓，咔嚓！”

记者们把路霸和他的维修团队挤到一边。路霸转身看了一眼他的维修队员：“你们谁了解‘雷’？”

此时，站在一旁的车王则被忠诚的岱诺可维修队员围住。

“车王，岱诺可因你而骄傲！”岱诺可老板老德对常胜将军说。

“这是我的荣幸，老德。”车王回答。

车王的妻子依偎着他的保险杠，温柔地说：“不论发生任何事，你在我心目中都是冠军，阔老公！”

“谢谢你，亲爱的。”赛坛老将车王深情地说，“没有你我不可能成功。”随即，他向被粉丝包围着的麦坤驶去。车王知道麦坤狂傲自大，但是他也很欣赏麦坤的才智。他想帮帮那小子。

“嘿，伙计，你真是个胆大的选手。”记者们刚让开一条道，车王就对麦坤说，“你身上一个螺母就比很多赛车整个车身还要有天赋。”

“真的？”麦坤整个人洋溢着自豪。车王久经沙场见过大世面，他说我开得好就一定是真的好了，麦坤心想。“这个，这个……”

“但是你很愚蠢。”车王接着说。

麦坤眨了眨眼睛问：“你在说什么？”

“赛车不是独角戏，小子，”车王意味深长地说，“你得放聪明点，给自己找一位好的维修队长和一个好的团队。你要想赢，就得有得力的队友在背后支持你，让他们各司其职。就像我跟店里的人说的那样：所有人共同参与，所有人都拼尽全力。”

“好吧。那可真是个好建议。”麦坤心不在焉地说。他没有把车王的忠告当回事。他这会儿满脑子想的都是自己成了岱诺可的下一位代言车，他的形象将出现在杂志的封面上，他的标志会被印在公司的直升机上，随之而来的名望、财富，还有多到他那豪邸都放不下的活塞杯。然而，这一切都要从今天的胜利开始。“谢谢你，车王先生。”

就在这时，音乐声淹没了广播的声音。“女士们，先生们。”鲍勃宣布道，“活塞杯赛车史上第一次……”

“……一位新手赢得活塞奖杯！没错！”麦坤不等鲍勃把话说完便迫不及待地发动引擎。他冲出迎接胜利者的帷幕，摆出冲刺终点线时的姿势，朝着人群做鬼脸。

“……三辆车并列第一！”鲍勃继续说道。

顷刻间，彩纸炮被拉响，五彩纸屑像雪花一样撒满天空。车王和路霸也走了上来，站在麦坤身边。

“嗬，好家伙！”路霸捧腹大笑。“嘿，麦坤！”他奚落道，“刚刚一定很尴尬吧？”

麦坤紧绷着脸。

“主办单位决定，一个星期后在加利福尼亚举行三位选手的终极决赛！”广播里传来鲍勃的声音。麦坤惊讶万分，他不相信自己竟然没有赢。

“嘿，菜鸟，”路霸低声对麦坤说，“第一个到加利福尼亚的人将独享岱诺可奖金。”

麦坤灰溜溜地闪到一旁，满脸沮丧。“谁第一个到加州，就可以独享岱诺可奖金，”他喃喃自语道，“那好，路霸，我们就看看谁先到！”