Miles Axlerod is revealed as the main villain behind the race-fuel conspiracy in Pixar’s Cars 2.
Axlerod is presented as a former oil baron who has become a peace advocate and organizer of the World Grand Prix. He promotes Allinol, a supposedly clean alternative fuel, and uses the international race to demonstrate it to the world.
The conspiracy involves electromagnetic pulses that make cars using Allinol malfunction. Axlerod’s plan is intended to discredit alternative fuel and restore the importance of petroleum. His identity is eventually exposed when Mater, Finn McMissile, and Holley Shiftwell connect the sabotage to the World Grand Prix.
Professor Zündapp is an important accomplice, but he is not the mastermind. The film also uses the mystery of the hidden agent and the race broadcasts to misdirect both Mater and the audience before Axlerod’s reveal.