I live my life out on the edge
Yeah, I don't stop just 'cause it's red
Let's push this thing see what we get
This black pavement, these yellow lines
Are pulling us into the night
I feel my temperature rise!
Yeah, I don't stop just 'cause it's red
Let's push this thing see what we get
This black pavement, these yellow lines
Are pulling us into the night
I feel my temperature rise!
ZZ Ward, "Ride"
- In general, every single second of the racing scenes is beyond awesome. The Florida 500 is the best racetrack in the franchise so far.
- The next-gens are quite beautiful, and shots of them racing together adds up to it.
- McQueen's crash may be a tearjerker, but the slow-motion shot of him flying through the air has a really big effect to it, and boy, oh boy, is it just plain epic as it was advertised.
- The scene where Lightning receives his electronic suit is totally scientific.
- The "Kings Highway" montage. It's completely Scenery Porn.
- Lightning switching places with Cruz halfway through the Florida 500 so she can fulfill her racing dream.
- Cruz using her skills from Thomasville to make her way to the front.
- When Cruz approaches first, Storm backs up to try to give her a Breaking Speech. It almost works, but Lightning manages to turn this around by pointing out to her that he wouldn't be giving that speech in the first place if he wasn't scared, giving her the motivation to win.
- To top it all off, she uses Doc's famous flip to overtake Jackson to beat him.
- Cruz revealing her new Dinoco racing paint job at the end. Taken up even more notches with Lightning's transformation into the Fabulous Lightning McQueen, which is complete with really dramatic angles.
- Lightning's electronic suit slowly ripping during the forest race, followed by him doing an astounding jump in front of the moon as it tears off completely.
- Lightning managing to pass every next-gen one by one in the Los Angeles 500 and Florida 500. Mad skills.
- Jackson Storm's grand entrance at the Dinoco 400. He shows up just one second after Lightning says "Let's see what you've got!", as if right on cue.
- Before his horrible crash when Lightning is suddenly overtaken by Storm, at first he is shocked as he falls back behind two other racers, but then he snaps out and becomes furious as he speeds up as hard as he can, engine buzzing loudly and his exhaust pipes glowing continuously near his back tires. We even get a few shots of his eyes, which are furrowed with extreme anger and determination all at once. One of them provides the YouTube thumbnail for the final trailer as well as the "Ride" music video.
- The scene where Lightning arrives at the Rust-eze Racing Center, complete with a huge #95 in the lobby. The credits show the lobby has been updated with a #51 for Cruz alongside the #95, showing that Tex now owns both of their sponsored products.
- Just after Lightning is done up in his current racing getup, he looks at his reflection in the mirror and utters under his breath, "I'm coming for you, Storm." You can even see the determination in his eyes as he says it.
- Sterling's array of Lightning McQueen merchandise, no wonder Lightning has become real famous now!
- Lightning and Cruz's training session on Fireball Beach. Same with their accidental involvement in the Thunder Hollow Crazy 8.
- The entire Thunder Hollow demolition derby is just one long moment of awesome - particularly when Miss Fritter gets personal.
- Cruz disguising herself as Jackson Storm, complete with a somewhat crude imitation of him. Same goes with her odd #95 paint job by Ramone when she switches places with Lightning at the Florida 500.
- Pretty much any scene involving Natalie Certain. The grid behind her shows what she's talking about, complete with special effects.
- Smokey showing up last minute to be Lightning's crew chief, and later Lightning himself for Cruz when she takes over for him halfway through.
- The way Jackson Storm's engine revs. It sounds like an airplane turbine.
- Cruz finally achieving her dream of becoming a race car, with Lightning as her teacher.
- Heck, Cruz's racing getup is quite unique. She has the vibrant colored decals of Lightning and the other veterans, and the white semitransparent sponsor stickers and thin racing tires of Jackson and the next-gens. In other words, she's a hybrid of both types!
- Tex buying Rust-eze from Sterling so Lightning can keep his job, so now he owns both sponsors and both Lightning and Cruz are racing for him now!
- The workout scene during Lightning and Cruz's Training Montage, complete with crazy Latin music which Cruz makes up her own rap out of. Same goes for Lightning using the same music and rap to convince Cruz to come to Thomasville with him, complete with the lights in his trailer flashing and his goofy dance moves.
- Lightning's special Doc Hudson-esque paint job he shows up wearing in the finale is quite breathtaking to be exact. It's like Lightning brought Doc back to life through his paintwork!
- The entirety of the simulator scene, especially the parts where Lightning goes out of control.
- Remember when in Cars 2 Finn complimented Mater for playing the part of the fool so well? This time, Mater knowingly does exactly that in order to stop Sterling and buy the crew enough time to get Cruz ready to race.
- “Ride”. It’s such a rather awesome theme for the movie that it sums up both Lightning and Cruz’s perspectives in general, perfect for racing and even riding on the road.
- The thumbnail for the video on YouTube is rather epic as it displays a dramatic shot of Lightning’s furrowed eyes from when he is struggling to catch up to Storm.
- It's subtle, but Cruz never actually tells Sterling exactly why she is quitting working for him. Then again, her dislike for him is so clear she didn't need to.
Yeah, we gon' ride!
