In Pixar's Cars 3, Cruz Ramirez becomes Lightning McQueen's racing trainee and takes over his racing number.
Cruz Ramirez begins the film as a highly capable trainer at the Rust-eze Racing Center. She is enthusiastic about modern racing techniques but initially lacks confidence in her own ability to compete. Her work with McQueen gradually changes both characters: she learns to trust her talent, while he learns that mentoring can be part of a racer's legacy.
Near the climax, Cruz enters the Florida 500 in McQueen's place. She proves that she can compete with the newer generation and ultimately races under his number, 95. McQueen then adopts a mentor role while Cruz begins her own professional racing career.
Cruz is sometimes mistaken for a mechanic because of her training-center role. She is a yellow race car and a racer herself, while Sally Carrera is McQueen's Porsche partner and Holley Shiftwell is a spy character from Cars 2.