In Pixar's Cars 3, Thomasville becomes Lightning McQueen's training base after the Rust-eze team changes strategy.
McQueen travels to Thomasville with Cruz Ramirez and Smokey, a former crew chief connected to Doc Hudson's racing past. The town provides a historical link to Doc's career and gives McQueen access to older, experience-based training methods rather than relying only on modern simulation technology.
Thomasville is a fictional Southern racing community. Its residents and stories help McQueen understand how Doc recovered from setbacks and learned to compete after being underestimated. The training there also changes Cruz's role from technical assistant to a racer with her own potential.
Radiator Springs is McQueen's home base, while Tokyo and London are major Cars 2 locations. None of those places serves as the key late-film training setting in Cars 3.