Cruz Ramirez becomes Lightning McQueen’s chief trainer and racing mentor in Pixar’s Cars 3.
Cruz begins the film as a highly technical trainer at the Rust-eze Racing Center. She initially helps Lightning prepare for competition against Jackson Storm, a new-generation racer whose speed and technology threaten Lightning’s career. During their journey, Cruz and Lightning discover that she has racing talent and ambitions of her own.
Lightning eventually shifts from treating Cruz only as a trainee to recognizing her potential as a competitor. Their relationship gives Cars 3 its central theme: experience can be passed to a new generation without erasing the achievements of the veteran. Cristela Alonzo voices Cruz in the English version.
Sally Carrera is Lightning’s partner and a Radiator Springs attorney, not his chief trainer. Holley Shiftwell belongs mainly to Cars 2’s spy story, and Flo runs the local café in Radiator Springs. Cruz is therefore the specific answer for Lightning’s trainer and eventual racing successor.