When we finally pulled up, it took a minute to realize that we were at a bar. A small, cream-colored forklift had been on a stage to the right, singing "Glory Days".

Dad, Junior, River, Smokey, and I had been at a small table, conversing, when a Nash Ambassador pulled up to our table.

Her eyes were the same color as mine, and on her side, the number "ninety-four" had been painted, in red. Her roof had been painted pink, and her hood, a nice cream color.

"I heard a young little racer was looking for me." she said, and she reminded me of Flo, in a way. She seemed to notice Dad, and smiled.

"Well, look who came back to us," she said. "If it ain't the ol' boy who kept tryin' to be young!"

"It's nice to see you again, Louise." he said. He then turned to me.

"Alex, I think you have company." he said, and even I could tell that the grin on my face made Willy's Butte look small. Louise turned to me, and gave me a smile.

"Well, ain't you just the cutest little thang!" she greeted, and I adored the sassy tone in her voice.

"What's a little girl like you doin', lookin' for some ol' gal like me?" she asked.

"I wanted to hear what the actual first female racer had to say." I said.

She looked to Lightning.

"When did she hear about me?" Louise asked.

"She found out on her own," he said. "Wouldn't stop asking me about you."

Louise smiled to me.

"I heard from some reporters that you were the first female to race," she said. "That's some real bologna, if ya'll asking me about it."

"I thought I was, until I realized that they forgot about you guys." I said.

The entire table went silent. Louise looked to Smokey.

"Just another consequence of lettin' in these electric racers," said Smokey. "These new cars don't know a single thing about racing."

"Don't get him started on that Jackson Storm boy," said River Scott. "That boy races harder, and not smarter."

You can be sure that I kept my mouth shut about Jackson. I looked to Dad, who frowned a bit, before looking to Louise.

"Why don't we give these boys their time, Hon?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, in return.

"Follow me, Baby Girl." she said. I looked to Dad again, and he nodded towards Louise.

Looking to the four of them, I turned, following her, and wondering what she had in store for me.

---

Looking around at the environment, it was easy to tell that people loved these woods. There were many tire tracks around the trees, and I wondered how they could have driven around without crashing.

Those tracks looked as if a racer had gone through them, and I assumed that River and Junior had been the ones driving. I looked to Louise.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, hoping I didn't sound too rude.

"I don't take anyone anywhere," she answered. "I just drive where I like, and if you follow, you follow."

"My dad told me that my mom used to drive him into the middle of nowhere," I responded. "she did it as a hobby."

"Well, whoever raised your mama raised her right." said Louise. I smiled.

"Why don't you ever race anymore?" I asked. She turned, facing me.

"That ain't racin' that you're doing, Baby Girl," she said. "That's a drive in the park. You take one lap, stop to change your tires, and take one lap, again."

"I'm going two-hundred laps for my races." I informed. She laughed.

"Honey, a real race is five hundred of those around a town," she said. "Back in Hud's time, we didn't drive in a circle two-hundred times. We curved around, driving side by side, one car cutting off another. That's where the joy lies, in racing."

I smiled.

"This old engine of mine can't go that fast, anymore," she continued. "But, it can definitely speed through around those woods. That's the real fun."

"You think you could teach me?" I asked.

"A little thing like you?" she asked. "Honey, you'd get it in a day!"

We shared a laugh.

But, that laugh seemingly faded from me, as I realized something.

"How...how did you become a racer?" I asked. "I thought females weren't allowed to race, back in Doc's time."

"Well, you're right about one thing," she said. "Them ol' men had some nerve, refusing a woman to race. Had to steal my number from someone else, to get in."

She laughed a bit, seemingly at the memory.

"Ol' fifty-one had no idea what was coming to him." she continued. I thought for a moment, realizing something.

"Fifty-one was Doc's number," I stated aloud. "Wasn't it?"

"Sure thing," she said. "Beat him three times in a season. They called me the "First Lady of Racin'", and boy, did I love them."

"I wish it was like that, now," I responded, as we continued to drive along. "When I first began racing, all I ever heard was "She's good, for a girl!" Even Jackson has said it, before. I remember him saying it in an interview."

"Whatcha mean even?" she asked, braking, and I realized that I forgot to not talk about Jackson. I turned to face her, stopping.

"I mean, not that I didn't expect it or anything..." I responded, nervously drifting off.

"Ain't hidin' nothin' from me." she said, and there seemed to be a sly grin on her face. I looked down, then back at her.

"You're not...gonna tell any of the boys, are you?" I asked. "I mean, my dad already knows, but..."

"Honey, I ain't any'o them boys' child," she said. "I don't need to tell them a thing."

I smiled.

"Let's get you back to them, Shorty." she said, turning around. Looking back, I seemed to have a last-minute attraction to the woods.

I turned back, following Louise.

Another time, Alex, I thought.

Another time.

---

Louise and I raced each other back to the guys, and it was pretty fun.

Louise beat me to them (as I expected the first female racer to do so), and I was pretty impressed.

Junior seemed to glance at my number, and he wore a smug grin.

"Look at that," he said, eyes targeting the number. "I'm waiting for one of you McQueens to reach a hundred."

"Don't forget, Moon," said River. "Ol' Ninety-Four is ours."

"Who you callin' old, Ol' Man Thirty-Four?" Louise smarted off. The six of us shared a laugh.

"I guess it's my turn to babysit," said Smokey. "Come on, Alex."

"But, we just got-"

"And, we're going out, again." Smokey cut off. I turned to Dad, and he let out a slight chuckle. I mentally groaned, following Smokey.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Since I got your ol' man's call, I've been waiting to show you something," he explained. "Your pa's seen it before, and now it's your turn."

I nodded, following him, until we got to an old-looking garage. The opening seemed a little big, but I wouldn't complain. He drove me along a wall full of pictures, and I recognized a certain, dark-blue car:

Doc.

Pictures and newspaper clippings of him and Dad had been nailed up on the wall, along with several newspapers, one of them headlined, "I Owe It All to Doc", along with another picture of the two at that old dirt track, back in Radiator Springs.

"Why are you...showing me this?" I asked.

"Doc used to talk about your ol' man all the time," he said. "he loved McQueen like his own son. When he became his crew chief, I couldn't get him off the phone until midnight, sometimes."

He chuckled a little, and I smiled.

"Alex, why don't you take a look at the bottom right?" he asked.

Looking down, I noticed a different picture, of a small, red car, racing my dad and Doc. She was a tiny, red Porsche, with big, bluish-green eyes, and a smile on her face so bright, I thought the picture would burn at any minute.

"Is that...me?" I asked.

I thought that Doc had died, before I was even born.

I never recalled racing with him.

"Doc had asked for one last race with McQueen, before he died," Smokey explained. "He never said which McQueen."

I was awed, and heartbroken that I never remembered.

"He waited until you were a year old, so he could see you," he continued. "his last race wasn't with your dad, Alex."

Taking a look at that picture solved everything for me.

It's no wonder I grew out of racing.

It's because I'd forgotten:

"It was with me." I said, putting it together, and it was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

"Second Doc knew he was getting a little granddaughter," Smokey explained. "He called me so often, I thought he started going to bed with the phone on him, just so he could talk about you. His last call was about how you had your dad's eyes, how you had a lot of stuff."

I looked to Smokey, eyes wide.

"You got a lot'a stuff, kid," said the old truck. "You don't see it, yet, but it's there!"

That's when I realized...

"That's why I stopped wanting to race!" I exclaimed, figuring everything out, in that moment. "It's not because I grew out of it! It's because I forgot about Doc! Doc was the missing piece!"

I turned to Smokey.

"Smokey, you solved everything!" I exclaimed, racing back to the bar.

Doc had been my missing link.

It wasn't Jackson, or Dad, and it wasn't my childhood ending that left me not wanting to race.

It was forgetting my race with the Hudson Hornet.

And, now that my memory of Doc was with me, it felt like nothing had changed since I was little.

Because of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet.

Because of Doc Hudson.

---

"It was Doc!" I yelled, speeding over to Dad, the boys, and Louise.

"What do you mean, Alex?" Dad asked. I laughed, grabbing his front tires with mine, and spinning us around.

"It was Doc!" I yelled, again. I gasped.

"We gotta get to the next race!" I exclaimed, zooming out of the bar, not even hearing Dad yell, "Wait! Alex, hold on!"

Dad and I raced against each other, and Mack picked us up halfway, to drive to Los Angeles. I needed to meet up with Jackson, Mom, and most importantly: the paparazzi. I needed to let them know that I wasn't the first female, and neither was Cruz.

Also, there was no way I was missing the next race, at the Colorado National Speedway.

"Don't rush off like that next time, Alex," he said, and a small laugh followed. "I barely kept up with you!"

"I don't know if I should consider that a good thing or a bad thing." I responded, giving him a smile.

He seemed to be staring at me, quietly. I tilted my hood at him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "..I just realized that you're growing up."

"Yeah, but...that doesn't mean I'm leaving you guys," I said. "Not like I could ever leave the RS."

He smiled, giving me a nod. We then heard a knock.

"Don't mean to bother ya, but we're here, Fellas!" said Mack. Dad looked to me, and knocked the door open with his spoiler.

"I'll give you some time to get ready." he said. I gave him a smile.

"Go win a race, Alex." he added, before leaving. The door closed, and I closed my eyes.

"Okay," I told myself. "You can do this, Alex."

I then thought of doing something that my dad used to do. I smiled through it.

"Speed," I said. "I am speed. Faster than fast, quicker than quick. One winner, twenty-four losers."

I laughed a little to myself, but I caught myself drifting off.

"Focus, Alex," I said. "Speed...speed...speed..."

I began to think of other things, and I remembered racing against Jackson in the tiebreaker. I remembered my race with Doc. I slowly began recalling bits and pieces of what Doc told me.

"Easy, Rookie," he said. "Gotta keep your tires in the dirt. Let them slide, you'll fly everywhere."

"You go hard enough right, you'll find yourself turning left."

"Wa more!" I remember myself exclaiming to Doc. I heard him give a laugh.

"Make this one special, Squirt," he said. "I may not be able to race you again."

I then heard a knock, and jumped.

"Hey, you ready in there, Alex?" Mack called. I held back a tear, and nodded.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "Yeah, I'm ready."

The door slowly opened, and the light of the sun shone inside the trailer.

All I had seen were cameras flashing.

"Miss McQueen, will you be racing, again?"

"Miss McQueen, what thoughts were going through your head, after your crash?"

"Miss McQueen, was this crash a setup?"

I ignored the questions, driving ahead, keeping my hood up.

I needed to show them that I wasn't as vulnerable as they thought I'd be. Seeing Jackson, I smiled.

However, I didn't drive after him, nor did I wait for him to come to me.

Instead, I continued on my way to my pit, where Mom, Mater, Luigi, and Guido were waiting for me.

"How was it?" Mom asked, greeting me with a kiss to the headlight. I smiled at her.

"I remember everything, Mom," I said. "I remember that last race with Doc, and why I even wanted to race, in the first place."

Mom smiled.

"Mom," I continued. "Doc was the only reason I wanted to race; he's still the reason I want to race, now! It was never Jackson, or Dad! It was Doc!"

Mom seemed as if she were going to say something else, but we heard Darrell speak up.

"Racers, get to your positions, and let's start this race!" he announced, enthusiastically.

I gave my parents a kiss, as Dad was driving up to his place as crew chief.

"Wish me luck!" I said, racing off to my position.

"You don't need it!" Mom called, as I drove off.

Driving onto the track, I got to my position, in fourth. I remembered three other cars passing me, one of them being Jackson, before my crash. It made sense that I'd be in fourth.

But, where was Jackson?