The Dash to Victory | A Cars Story

An Introduction to 'The Dash to Victory'

Howdy, everyone. 'TheOverzealousOne' here...

I thought I would include a bit of a back-story as to how this whole thing came about. If you don't like ramblings about how I made the story - SKIP TO CHAPTER 1! Enjoy :D

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You're still here? Great!

So, I revisited Pixar's beloved childhood favorite 'Cars' franchise in early September of 2021 - after re-watching 'Cars 3' with my step-brother. I fell back in love with the franchise and all the memories the original brought to me as a kid. Subsequently; I revisited the original and all of my childhood memories of the movie came trickling back into my mind. I felt so inspired that I began to discover something called 'FanFiction' - and I was hooked. I read a story by a FanFiction-er called "Real Champions"; and got heavily inspired to come up with my own. I thought I'd take a different spin on the franchise, however - as the fanfiction I had read did the same. I'd take it into a less kid-friendly territory - exploring themes of abandonment, hopelessness, and trust issues in the face of tragedy. Upon completing the bulk of this story, I was extremely proud of each and every character - along with their respective arcs. Dash was someone I could relate to (minus the incredibly extreme examples; being abandoned and such.) as a person looking to fit into this odd world.

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This story includes all of the canon characters - including fan-favorites Lightning McQueen, Sally Carerra, Tow Mater, Cruz Ramirez, Jackson Storm, and the like. Some of the canon characters -  such as the Sheriff - also have much larger roles. While others - namely Mater - have very diminished roles (not on purpose.) This story also includes some semi-canon characters I've adapted from reading others' adaptations of this world as well. 'Adapt-ception'; if you will. Namely, from the story entitled 'Real Champions' and its follow-up sequel; 'Real Champions; The Crash'. These two stories are fantastic reads for anyone who is a fan of the 'Cars' universe, so I highly recommend that you check them out! The characters I've adapted from that story - as well as a few key events - are as follows;

   -   Lightning and Sally are now married,

   -   Mater has his own spouse; Dana,

   -   Tex Devlin; the CEO of Dinoco, has been replaced by Sofia Bugatti (I know, you can imagine which kind of car she'd be)

   -   Tex's two fictional sons; Cam and Aro Devlin (Yup; Camaro) as spouses for those two Lightning McQueen fangirls from the first movie; Mia and Tia. They also live in Radiator Springs now, according to the adaptation.

The link to the 'Real Champions' adaption can be found here; https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4945520/1/Real-Champions

The link to its sequel can be found here; https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5016821/1/Real-Champions-The-Crash

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You'll also notice throughout the story that there are plenty of car-based puns and such to really immerse the reader into the world of anthropomorphic cars...

Things such as;

| - - "Manufacturer"; referring to their 'god'.

| - - "Lugnut"; an expletive for them to use, I guess.

| - - "Grease omelets"; mean, this one is kind of hard to explain. I guess it's a car-based adaptation of how cars might need grease??

| - - "Oil": Cars basically live off of this - and gas - in this world. They're anthropomorphic cars; what kind of logic do you expect from this?!

| - - "Dump truck"; a fun little spoonerism I came up with for the phrase 'dumb f**k'.

The story also contains various nods to the main storyline as well, including Lightning's crash in 2017's 'Cars 3', and a multitude of lines and callbacks throughout the franchise. Those who haven't familiarised themselves with the franchise should do so now before setting afoot in this story. You've been warned.

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With that being said; happy reading, everybody!  Let me know what you think of the story!