In Pixar’s Cars 3, Smokey identifies Doc Hudson as Lightning McQueen’s mentor.
After McQueen’s serious crash, he and Cruz travel to Thomasville, where Smokey helps him reconnect with the older traditions of stock-car racing. Smokey knew Doc Hudson during Doc’s racing years and understands how the former champion dealt with injury, disappointment, and being pushed aside by a younger generation.
The Thomasville sequence expands Doc’s backstory beyond what Cars first shows. McQueen learns that Doc did not simply lose interest in racing; he was effectively excluded after returning from injury. The story encourages McQueen to reinterpret his mentor’s life rather than repeat its most painful parts.
Smokey is therefore a source of historical knowledge, but Doc remains McQueen’s central mentor. The King is McQueen’s respected former rival, while Louise Nash and Junior Moon are Thomasville racing veterans who help explain the sport’s earlier era.